


Workings of Fate

by Juh_Nunes



Series: Trust in Fate [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alec Lightwood-centric, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Arranged Marriage, Canon-Typical Violence, Good Parabatai Jace Wayland, Good Parent Maryse Lightwood, Insecure Alec Lightwood, Light Angst, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, POV Alec Lightwood, Pre-Canon, Pre-Season/Series 01, The Clave Is Not Stupid, Two Years Before Season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-10-12 22:23:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 69,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20571908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juh_Nunes/pseuds/Juh_Nunes
Summary: The Uprising showed to Shadowhunters and Downworlders that there was something irrevocably wrong with their way of living. The Downworlders united forces and refused to sign the Accords, they didn't want to be put down anymore, they demanded equality. The Clave, knowing that they wouldn’t win in a war against the Downworlders, especially without the Mortal Cup, decided to work together with them, creating new laws.It would all be good, if almost seventeen years after the Uprising they weren't still having problems reaching an agreement. The Downworlders didn't trust that the Shadowhunters could see them as equals.A marriage was proposed.Alec had always known he would have to marry someone he didn't love one day, he had never imagined it would be like this, he had never imagined it would be a Downworlder.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a Tuesday the day Alec’s life changed forever.

It was the most unremarkable Tuesday. 

Robert and Maryse, Alec’s parents, were in Alicante taking part on the peace negotiations with the Downworld leaders from all around the world, and he was doing his job as acting Head of the New York Institute.

He went on patrol with his siblings, Jace and Izzy, wrote reports for the Clave, revised the patrol schedule, and rewrote Jace’s report on the nest of Shax demons they had found at the wee hours of the morning. 

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Alec liked his job. He liked killing demons and protecting Mundanes, he liked taking care of patrol schedules and making sure everything was in order. He liked paperwork just as much as he liked going out in the field. Jace and Izzy thought he was crazy, but he didn’t really care, there wasn’t much else he was free to enjoy, so it was a good thing he liked his job.

His parents had been preparing him to take over as Head of the Institute for years now. They were demanding, always saying he had to be better, to do better, that he couldn’t ever be less than perfect. 

Nothing was ever good enough for Maryse and Robert Lightwood. It was not enough that Alec was the best archer in the Institute, they wanted him to be the best in the world. It was not enough that he was proficient in a large variety of weapons, they wanted him to be perfect with every single one.

Alec understood it and never complained, he couldn’t be the one to tarnish the Lightwood name by being a subpar Shadowhunter. He had to be perfect to one day become the official Head of the Institute. 

Doing the job while their parents were away was always good practice for the future.

If it wasn’t for the conflict with the Downworlders he would have nothing to complain of his job.

The whole thing had started sixteen years ago, when a group of Shadowhunters who called themselves the Circle tried to take charge of the Clave and stop the signature of the Accords. 

They accomplished half of their goals. 

There was a huge fight, and the Clave, helped by the Downworlders who were in Alicante to sign the Accords, managed to stop the Uprising. But too many Downworlders died, and the ones who survived refused to cooperate with the Clave any longer.

The Circle managed to prove to everyone that the Accords were not enough. Shadowhunters still saw themselves as superior to Downworlders, and the treatment Downworlders received was not right, or fair, or something the Angels would want. Even Shadowhunters acting under the Clave’s orders had hurt or killed Downworlders without reason more often than anyone could consider acceptable.

The Accords were dead now. 

After the Circle and the Uprising, the Downworlders started to demand real equality, and refused to settle for what the Clave was offering. 

Although the Clave was not happy with it, they couldn’t do anything other than comply with the Downworlders. There were much more Downworlders than Shadowhunters, and with the Downworld united, the Shadowhunters had no chance of winning on direct confrontation without losing too many people. The Clave couldn’t afford a war right now, not since the Mortal Cup disappeared.

Since then, the Clave and the representatives of the Downworlders had been working on new laws and a new agreement to replace the Accords, they called it the Alliance. 

According to Robert and Maryse, the negotiations were stuck, had been for years now. And because of that, the Shadow World lived in an uneasy peace, filled with conflicts that many times derailed negotiations and made everything go back to square one.

The Clave was running out of options, the Downworlders were running out of options, and every day that passed by without an agreement was one day closer to a war no one wanted.

And that’s the reason Alec’s life changed completely, on a perfectly ordinary Tuesday.

Alec was reading the last mission report from the day, when a quick knock on his bedroom door, followed by the door being unceremoniously opened, made him raise his head from his desk. His parents were there. They hadn’t send word that they were coming back to New York today, the last Alec had heard was that they would be in Alicante until the next Monday.

Robert and Maryse walked into his room and closed the door carefully behind them, Alec frowned when he noticed his mother drawing a Soundless Rune on his door, if his parents coming into his bedroom in the middle of the night instead of summoning him to their office wasn’t strange enough, his mother making sure no one could overhear them would be.

"Mother, father," Alec stood up and quickly slipped into his practiced soldier stance. It wasn’t because this was completely unexpected and unusual that he wouldn’t behave the way he had been trained to.

"Sit here with me, Alec," Maryse said indicating his bed, and for the first time in a long time, it didn’t sound like an order.

His mother was ages away from being warm or fuzzy, she was more of a commander than a mother on her best days, and on her worst it was easy to forget that she loved him.

Now, Maryse looked tired. There were bags under her eyes and she was slightly pale. If it wasn’t obvious before that something was wrong, now it would be.

Alec sat on his bed, and his mother did the same. His father remained standing in front of the closed door, as if he thought that whatever they had to say would make Alec try to escape, and he was there to stop him.

"What is it, mom?" Alec asked, not allowing the fear that was starting to creep inside him to slip into his voice. He knew better than to display any kind of weakness. He was a soldier. If there was a problem his duty was to fix it, not to get emotional over it.

Maryse sighed deeply, before asking; "How much do you know about the Alliance negotiations?"

"Just what you told me." Alec frowned. "That the Downworlders don’t think they can trust us without proof that we see them as equals."

Maryse nodded, looking somewhere over Alec’s shoulder, obviously avoiding his eyes. "They are also demanding the demotion of all former Circle members that hold any position of power within the Clave."

Alec looked from his mother to his father, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Okay?"

"The Clave accepted their demands. As soon as the Alliance is signed—" Maryse interrupted herself, looking at Robert expectantly.

"Alec, your mother and I weren’t completely honest with you. At first you were just too young to understand it, and it all happened so much time ago, we didn’t think you needed to know, but—"

Robert didn’t have to finish it. 

Suddenly Alec started to see a great deal of things that had never made sense in a new lighting. His father’s _ parabatai _had been in the Circle. The Downworlders were particularly hostile after learning his last name. Hodge had been in the Circle and he obviously resented Maryse and Robert. And why else would they have been practically forbidden to go to Alicante unless in official business?

"You were in the Circle," Alec stated, his voice emotionless, void of the turmoil in his head.

It made so much sense now that he thought about it.

He wondered if he shouldn’t be more surprised or even angry, but all he felt was disappointment. His whole life they had demanded him to be the perfect son, the perfect soldier for the Clave, they had said he had a duty to uphold the Lightwood name, they demanded obedience and commitment to their sacred duty. And now he found out they had failed in everything they had demanded of him.

"We were young, and naive, and we thought we knew what was best for the world." 

"Genocide?" Alec asked, staring at his mother in disbelief. There was a limit to what someone could blame on naivety, genocide was completely out of the spectrum.

"It didn’t start like that." She sighed, looking down at her hands. "Valentine had ideas to revolutionize the Clave, ideas to bring down retrograde laws and backwards costumes."

"And to kill Downworlders?"

"You have to understand, Alec," Robert said, moving his weight from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable. "He was always so convincing, he sounded so righteous. And we were really young and impressionable, we got under his spell, he convinced us that the Downworlders were all inherently evil because they had demon blood in their veins. Too dangerous, too unruly to live in the same world as our children—"

"And it’s not like the rest of the Clave didn’t think the same," Maryse interrupted. "We all grew up with it. Listening it. That the Downworlders don’t have control over their emotions, that they are driven by their desires, that they don’t care about anything else. It’s what the Clave always believed, it’s what we were taught to believe."

"We don’t think like that anymore," Robert stated.

"Yes, you do!" Alec snapped, rolling his eyes to his father. "That’s exactly what you think. Don’t lie to me."

Alec knew it. He had heard the same things from his parents his whole life. They still believed the same things, that Shadowhunters were better than Downworlders because they had a sacred mission and Downworlders lived for their desires. They were always saying that Shadowhunters had to keep their distance from Downworlders or they would lose their judgement. Even Alec was not sure how much of that was the truth and how much of that was just prejudice.

Nothing had changed. It was no wonder the Downworlders were so reluctant in signing the Alliance.

"We still have a lot to learn but the things I've seen in the past few years showed me that Downworlders are not as selfish as I used to think. They've been working together for the benefit of all of them and I can respect that," Maryse conceded in a placating tone, she had always been good at politics and diplomacy. She knew the tides had changed and was ready to make any sacrifice so that her family wouldn’t lose what she considered rightfully theirs.

"And now the Clave will demote the two of you, you won’t be the Heads of the Institute anymore, so you had to tell me all this." Alec sighed, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. He could already feel a headache coming. "Who is going to be the new Head of the Institute?"

He didn’t dare to hope. Institutes were commanded by couples. He was too young and too single to get the position. And that was without counting his parents being former Circle members, Alec could already see all his plans for the future crumbling in front of his eyes. His stomach lurched uncomfortably.

"We have no way of knowing," Maryse said, changing her posture immediately. 

While talking about their past with the Circle she looked almost regretful and kept avoiding Alec’s gaze, now her back was straighter, and she was looking into Alec’s eyes calculatingly. He had seen that look on her eyes many times before. She had a plan, and he didn't think he would like it.

"Whoever it is, it’s likely that they will send the two of us and Max to Idris, probably Izzy too. To keep us as far away from Downworlders as possible. And who knows where they would send you and Jace. They would want to get rid of all traces of the Lightwood name from this Institute. It would be the smartest thing to do to guarantee the local Downworlders cooperation."

She was right. Of course she was right. It was the easiest way to appease the New York Downworlders. They would all be separated. Send away from the only home they knew.

"And even if they allowed you, Jace and Izzy to stay here, you know your brother and sister have a discipline problem. How many times do you think you would be able to cover up for them with someone else in charge? We look the other way because we know you do everything you can to control the two of them, but how long do you think it would take for the new Heads to bench you and Jace, and send Izzy away?"

Not long, not long at all. Alec rubbed his face with his hand. He could already imagine it. Jace would fight someone he wasn’t supposed to, or Izzy would sneak out to a party, or they would both go on an unsanctioned mission, and Alec would be too late to fix it, too late to cover it up. The first slip from any of them and they would all pay for it.

"And of course, you would never be Head of any Institute, much less this one."

All the hard work he had put into it. All the hours he had spent learning how to administrate the Institute. All for nothing.

Maryse’s eyes never left his face while she spoke. Somewhere on the back of his mind Alec knew exactly what she was doing, but he was too busy thinking about all the things that would go wrong and all the ways their future was ruined.

In the middle of his turmoil, his mind barely registered Maryse and Robert exchanging a glance, and his father’s curt nod.

"There is a way," Maryse said softly, grabbing Alec’s hand and taking it away from his forehead.

Alec knew that whatever it was, it was not going to be good for him. He knew it from the moment they walked into his room, from the moment they started talking about all of this with him alone. If it had been only that, if they only wanted to inform him that they were losing the Institute, they would have wanted Jace and Izzy to be there too. They wouldn’t want to repeat themselves later. Whatever this plan was, Alec knew he would be the one making a sacrifice.

Alec nodded. He was ready for it. Ready to sacrifice himself for the good of his family. It was what he was raised to do. It was his duty, to take care of his siblings, make sure they didn’t get into too much trouble, cover up for all of them. He could do this too, whatever it was, if it was going to keep his family together, if it was going to make things better for his siblings. He could do almost anything.

"The Downworlders want the Clave to prove that we see them as our equals. That has been a problem for the past ten years, that’s where the negotiations always got stuck," Maryse said, and Robert nodded. "This time around, one of the Vampire representatives proposed a marriage."

Oh.

The prospect of an arranged marriage should’ve scared him more than it did. But the truth was that he never thought he would have any other option.

Since he could remember, he had heard from his parents that he had a duty to marry a good Shadowhunter girl and to have children with her to keep their lineage alive. 

He had heard from older Shadowhunters at the Institute how wrong and against the will of the Angel it was for man to be with other man. He heard of Shadowhunters being deruned for not wanting to marry who they were supposed to marry. 

When he figured out that he would much rather be with a man than with a woman, he already knew he couldn’t ever let anyone know about it. It was wrong. It wasn’t proper. It wasn’t the will of the Angel.

As such, Alec had been prepared for an arranged marriage his whole life. He had always known that someday he would have to marry a girl from a good influential family who would take over the Institute with him. He had always known that he would have to marry someone he couldn’t ever love. It was the only way for him to keep the Institute and make his parents proud. But he never thought it was going to be this way. He never imagined it would be a Downworlder.

"You want me to marry a Downworlder to fix your mistakes?" Alec whispered. He had no idea where his voice had gone. 

"Look, Alec," Robert exhaled through his mouth. "You are right, these are our mistakes, but there is nothing we can do to fix them other than travel back in time and not join the Circle. Whatever happens now, it’s your decision to make. We are just giving you all the options."

Alec already knew that. But still. It was too big of a decision to make. It wouldn’t only affect him, but his whole family and possibly their world. He had been raised to be a leader, he had been raised to take charge of the Institute and command their troops. He never expected to have to make this kind of decisions this soon.

"How will that even help us?"

"The Clave wouldn’t be able to demote you because they need to prove to the Downworlders that they are seem as equals," Robert stated. "And you are already acting Head of the Institute."

"But it gets even better," Maryse smiled tightly, squeezing Alec’s hand. "The Downworlder would be one of the leaders, or the marriage wouldn’t be relevant enough to make a statement, and for the two of you to be truly equals the Clave would have to officially promote you to Head of the Institute or your position would be beneath your spouse’s. This way we would all be able to stay in New York."

"But why would they chose me?" Alec understood the plan. It made sense. The Clave would be stuck with him commanding the Institute, and he would be able to keep his whole family safe. But nothing explained why his parents thought the Clave would allow him to do it, there were certainly better options all around the world.

"It needs to be someone single, and someone that already has a good position within the Clave. All the Institute Heads are married, so the second best is the heirs. The thing is, most of the heirs are either already engaged or their parents have no interest in stepping down from their positions."

"Or to marry their children to a Downworlder," Robert added under his breath, and Maryse nodded. “There is also the lineage problem,” he added a little louder. “The Clave would rather have a candidate that has siblings so the bloodline wouldn’t die.”

Alec nodded. It made sense for him. Since the Mortal Cup had disappeared years ago there was no other way to have new Shadowhunters other than having children. The Clave couldn't let bloodlines die out, especially when it came to big traditional families.

"If we put your name forward, they will have to choose you, you are the best option for everyone. And you have an impeccable record, you are known in Alicante for your good work ethics and for being a reliable soldier." 

"And despite everything else, the Lightwood name still holds big importance in the Clave. We are loosely related to all the most important members of the Council," Robert said.

Of course. Clave politics. It explained how his parents ended up commanding an Institute, while Hodge had been condemned to never be able to leave the Institute, and Michael Wayland had been exiled at his house until he died.

"We also bought ourselves a little extra good will with Inquisitor Herondale," Maryse confessed.

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, narrowing his eyes.

"When we learned that all former Circle members were being demoted, we went to the Inquisitor and told her a couple of things that we had never disclosed before."

"Such as?"

"There are people that were never in the Circle, but were always covering up for the Circle and had regular meetings with Valentine. They were never marked with the Circle Rune, so the Clave never found out about them. Malachi was one of them," Maryse explained.

"The Consul." Alec shook his head, sighing deeply. This was all even worse than he’d ever imagined.

"As it turns out he was less than favorable to the Alliance and had been putting roadblocks since the beginning. Imogen managed to work with the rest of the Council to impeach him and to put him in trial through the sword. The Council will elect a new Consul in the next few days."

"Why didn’t you tell them about Malachi years ago?" Alec asked perplexed, looking from his mother to his father.

"We were still reluctant to change during our trial. We were ready to be loyal to the Clave and the Covenant, but we didn’t believe that what we did was wrong," Robert stated. "Now the time has come for us to define our alliances better. Not for us, we are going to be demoted either way. But for you and your siblings, so it will be harder for people to call your integrity to question."

Alec nodded slowly. He could understand his parents reasoning to an extend. But he would never be able to understand how they could do the things the Circle did, how they could have believed that what they were doing was not wrong. The Circle killed people. The Circle tortured people. Even if they thought the Downworlders were lesser, it was still cruel and uncalled for. It didn’t fit with the image he had of them, it was confusing.

Everything was so confusing.

Maryse and Robert were looking at him expectantly.

"Can I think?" Alec’s voice was trembling. It was too much. His head was pounding.

"There is no time," Maryse said firmly. "Alec, this is the only way. If we don’t make a move now, they will have a new Head for the Institute by the end of the week, and then, we will lose everything. That’s why we came in secret, once you are no longer acting Head they won’t even consider it. This is the only opportunity we’ve got."

"But you have to agree," Robert interrupted her. "We can’t force you to do it if it’s not what you want."

"And then Izzy and Max would stay here. And I would keep the Institute?" 

Maryse nodded, smiling encouragingly.

For them. 

For Izzy, Max and Jace. And even for his parents. Alec had to say yes. 

He couldn’t have his family all torn apart, his siblings out there without his protection. He had to say yes. So that’s what he did.


	2. Chapter 2

"You are what?" Izzy screamed a week later.

Robert and Maryse had put Alec’s name under consideration, and just as they had predicted, the Clave accepted it immediately. 

Alec was engaged.

And he didn’t even know who his future wife was. He knew it was a Downworld leader, and he knew it had to be someone local, relocating him would defeat the purpose of choosing someone who already had a good position. Other than that, he knew nothing.

His parents were back in Alicante, negotiating the terms of the marriage and the ceremony, and going through the candidates to his hand in marriage.

They were choosing who Alec was going to marry.

Who he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

Alec had trouble breathing every time he thought about it.

He kind of hoped that it wouldn’t be a Vampire. Not that he had a problem with Vampires in particular. But he had heard that bites were a big part of any Vampire’s romantic relationship, and he really didn’t think he would enjoy that, though he also knew that if it happened he would think he was enjoying it. Overall he just didn’t want to doubt his own mind.

He thought a Werewolf would be the best option, they were Mundanes before turning, but unlike Vampires they were mortal, so they didn’t lose much touch with their humanity. It would also prevent him from ending up married to someone centuries old, he had heard that after a couple of centuries the Downworlders tended to lose track of the passing of time, he couldn’t imagine having to live with someone stuck in the past.

He knew that relationships between Seelies and Shadowhunters weren’t as uncommon as the rest, and they had Angel blood too, choosing a Seelie wouldn’t really show the Downworlders that they were being taken seriously. So Alec didn’t even consider the possibility.

And then there were the Warlocks, he had heard so many things about Warlocks. That they were too powerful, that having a direct connection to a demon made them unstable, that they could turn to their demonic parts at any time and lose their humanity completely. Alec had no idea what to think of that.

And truly, he had no idea how much of what he knew was the truth and how much was only prejudice. He had never been around Downworlders long enough to get to know them. His only source of Downworlder knowledge were books and other Shadowhunters. Definitely biased opinions.

Considering what they had been fighting for since the Uprising, Alec had to wonder if any of it was true. Maybe it was time he forgot everything he knew about Downworlders, especially if he was to marry one of them in less than a month.

Now that the Clave had accepted all their demands the Downworlders were ready to sign the Alliance as soon as Alec got married, there was no time to lose.

Ultimately he knew that his opinion wouldn’t count. Even if he had expressed an opinion before his parents left. He was doing this for his family, not for himself.

Jace and Izzy had taken the news about their parents being in the Circle with mixed reactions. 

Jace was more willing to understand, his father had been in the Circle too, and he believed Maryse and Robert regretted it, but he resented the fact that his father had been exiled while Maryse and Robert got an Institute to run and a prestigious position in the Clave. 

Izzy on the other hand refused to talk to either of them. Alec didn’t know what was hurting her more, the fact that they were in the Circle to begin with, or the hypocrisy. Probably the hypocrisy.

"Engaged, I’m engaged," Alec repeated. 

They were in the training room. He was punching the sandbag with much more force than he was supposed to, but he had to release some of that pent up nervous energy somehow or he would drive both himself and Jace crazy. He knew that his anxiety was starting to bleed to Jace through their _ parabatai _ bond. Jace had been fidgety all week and he had broken his stele twice in just as many days.

"To whom? You’ve never even had a girlfriend!" Jace grunted, holding the sandbag while Alec punched.

"I don’t know yet."

"What do you mean you don’t know?" Izzy screeched again. They were starting to gather attention, Alec could see from the corner of his eye people starting to get closer to the training room trying to listen in on their conversation.

"Back to work, Raj!" Alec yelled, punching the bag again, knowing without looking that the other Shadowhunter was running back to his monitor. "I mean that I don’t know. We were going to lose the Institute, the Clave was going to send you and Max away, and the next Head of the Institute was probably going to send Jace and I to Siberia, or some other remote isolated place where we would be far away from anybody’s attention."

"And what does that have to do with you getting married?" Jace frowned from the other side of the punching bag.

"I get to keep the Institute, and all of us stay here," Alec said breathlessly.

"How? How does you getting married keep us here?" Izzy asked suspiciously, cocking her head to the side and narrowing her eyes.

"The Downworlders demand that the Clave proves that we see them as our equals. So the Clave needs someone to marry a Downworlder. I’m someone," Alec explained it between punches.

"You can’t do that Alec," Izzy said resolutely, raising her arms in a frustrated sign. "You can’t just throw your happiness away for the Clave."

"It’s not for the Clave," Alec sighed, dropping his arms and resting his forehead on the punching bag, breathing heavily. "It’s to keep the Institute, to keep us together, to make sure Max has a good future, to clean the Lightwood name. So many fucking reasons."

"None of them are your happiness," Izzy murmured, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"You don’t need to do it, Alec, we can find another way," Jace agreed patting his arm. "We can work our asses off wherever they send us and make them see that we are the best team there is, so they would have to put us in a good Institute. And you can work your way up to Head, I know it."

"No I can’t. Becoming Head of the Institute is all about politics and name. All the other Institutes already have Heads and heirs. Besides, they would separate us. Not you and me, they can’t separate _ parabatai_. But they would send Izzy away, they wouldn’t want it to look like they are giving us any kind of preferential treatment," Alec said frustrated, raising his head to look at Jace. "And we wouldn’t be able to see Max for a long time either. He would be sent to Idris with our parents and they wouldn't be allowed to visit. The Clave would want our parents far away from everything. This is the only way."

Jace and Izzy exchanged a look but didn’t say anything else. Alec was not sure if they recognized that it was better this way or if they were already thinking of ways to stop him. It didn’t matter. It was his decision and it was done. He had said yes, and he was going to keep his word, no matter what they thought of it.

Later that night, Izzy showed up at his room with a determined look on her face. She sat on his bed and caught his hand. 

For a second she reminded him very vividly of their mother, and how she had been in that exact same position a week before. They had the same eyes. Eyes that could make Alec do almost anything in the world.

"Alec you can’t do this," Izzy whispered tearfully. "You can’t just marry someone you don’t even know because of our parents stupidity."

He sighed, he wished he didn’t have to talk about it with her again, didn’t have to explain and convince her to accept. He wished she could just be supportive of his decision without question. 

But then she wouldn’t be Izzy, she wouldn’t be his little sister and best friend.

"We can’t do anything to change what they did, but I can’t just let it ruin our lives either." Alec looked into her eyes, willing her to understand. "I don’t want to be away from you and Max, Iz. I don’t want to be send somewhere else. New York is our home, I don’t want to lose it."

"Why are you so convinced we’ll lose it? Maybe the next Head of the Institute will be cool with us staying here," she said hopefully.

"No one in their sane mind would let our parents stay in New York."

"Screw our parents, we don’t need them here," Izzy said through her teeth, hurt and anger flashing through her eyes.

"What about Max? Would you be fine with not seeing him?" Alec sighed, shaking his head tiredly. "He is six, Izzy, he would go with mom and dad, we wouldn’t be able to see him grow up, he wouldn’t have us to support him and to train him, he would be all alone." 

"We could visit him, I’m sure they wouldn’t forbid us to visit," she murmured with pleading eyes. "There is always other options, Alec. Please."

"But it’s not only that. What about all the work I put into becoming Head of the Institute? Is it okay to just throw that away?" He replied with frustration.

"So you’ll just throw your life away instead? Really smart, Alec!" Izzy snapped and pulled her hand away from his, losing her patience and letting the anger take over.

"I’m making a choice that I think is the best and that’s it," Alec argued with determination, he wouldn’t change his mind, even if he was terrified of his future.

"Screw you then, just throw your life away, see if I care," she yelled, standing up and stomping away. "Don’t come running to me when you realise you are making a huge mistake." 

She slammed the door behind her and Alec threw himself on the bed, burying his face on the pillow. 

Sadness and hopelessness started to creep up inside him and he let out a sob. 

He was doing it for Izzy’s own good, even if she couldn’t see it, and he wouldn’t change his mind just because she was upset. 

Even if seeing her turn her back on him hurted more than anything else in the world.

* * *

Alec was at his room going through mission reports a week later, when once again his mother walked in after a quick knock. He hoped it wouldn’t become a thing. 

Before he could even stand up, she had already drawn a Soundless Rune on his door. He definitely didn’t want _that_ to become a thing.

"We need to talk," Maryse declared, sitting down on his bed and gesturing for him to do the same.

"Again?" He grimaced, already moving to sit next to her.

"Alec, you may not believe me, but all I want is for my children to be well." Maryse caught his hand between both of hers. "That’s the reason I’m here alone. I was supposed to stay in Alicante, we are discussing our choices for your future spouse, no one knows I came back. But I had to talk to you, I had to be sure," she talked fast, looking agitated.

"What’s it, mom?" Alec asked uneasily. He was not used to seen his mother perturbed like that, he was not sure how to respond.

"Promise me you’ll be honest with me? If you are not honest there is nothing I can do for you. I just want to take care of you, the best way I can." 

She took one of her hands from his and carresed his face. It was the most motherly thing she had done in years, Alec didn’t even know how to react. He closed his eyes and leaned closer to her.

"I need to know, Alec," she murmured, her hand going from his face to his hair. "It’s just between the two of us, it won’t ever leave this room if you don’t want to."

"Okay," Alec murmured, his eyes still closed. He was not sure what his mother was going to ask, but he trusted her. No matter what happened, he had always trusted her.

"Do you think—" Maryse took a deep breath. "Would you ever be able to feel attracted to a woman?"

Alec froze. 

His eyes opened wildly. His first impulse was to stand up and get away from her, but she held his hand tightly. 

His mind was spinning. 

She couldn’t be asking him what he thought she was asking. She wasn’t supposed to know. No one was supposed to know. No one could know.

"What— Mom, what are— No—" Alec stammered. He couldn’t breathe.

"Alec please," she petted his hair and squeezed his hand. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "I don’t have much time, but I need to know, I need to be sure so I can spin this the right way. Just be honest with me. It doesn’t change anything."

"How— How did you k-know?" Alec stuttered breathlessly.

"Oh, Alec," Maryse sighed, pulling him into her arms. "I’m your mother," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. "I know. I just know."

"Does dad—" Alec mumbled, his voice muffled by her shoulder.

"No, your dad has no idea."

"Did I— Did I do anything—" He was not thinking clearly. He should have denied it. Denying it would be the only way for him to not humiliate his family. 

But it was too late for it now, his mother already knew it. And she wasn’t throwing him out or saying he was useless and dirty. She knew and she wasn’t judging him. She wasn’t treating him differently.

It was a huge relief and a huge fright all at the same time.

How had she figured it out? How could she just know? Did anyone else know it? Was he only lying to himself by trying to keep it buried away? Did Jace know?

"You didn’t do anything, Alec, no one else knows," she shushed him in a calming tone, still petting his hair. "I just know you, I’ve known you your whole life."

"Izzy knows," Alec murmured.

"Did you tell her?"

"No. She just knew it."

"Maybe it’s a Lightwood woman thing," she said softly, kissing the side of his head.

"What are you going to do now?" Alec whispered fearfully. It was hard to wrap his head around his mother knowing his biggest secret and not yelling at him and saying he was a failure of a son.

"I'm going to get you a husband," Maryse stated, and her tone left no room for arguments.

When she left a couple of minutes later, all the emotions he had always kept in check exploded from inside him. He was relieved, scared, happy, sad, excited, all at the same time. 

Alec felt something wet going down his cheeks. He was crying.


	3. Chapter 3

Alec's wedding day was less than a week away, and he still had no idea who he was going to marry.

It was a big if, but if his mother managed to do what she had promised, he at least had a chance of getting something good out of this marriage. 

He didn't dare to hope, though. He knew the odds. The Clave was not discreet on their view on homosexuality, it was highly unlikely that they would allow him to marry a man. 

Still, if anyone could do it, it would be Maryse Lightwood.

Izzy and Jace hadn't said anything else about the wedding since the day Alec told them, and while he was relieved they weren't driving him crazy talking about it and trying to convince him to change his mind, he was also afraid they might be plotting behind his back.

He wanted to ask Jace to be his suggenes, but he had been putting it off, after Izzy’s reaction, he was afraid of Jace’s answer, he was not sure he could do this with them both against him.

Everything else was ready. His golden tuxedo was already hanging ominously on his closet door. He knew from his parents that the Accords hall was almost all decorated, and was to be renamed as the Alliance hall after the wedding. And the Alliance papers were ready to be signed.

All of it depending on Alec marrying a complete stranger.

Everyone at the Institute already knew about his impending wedding, and although some of them were very obviously displeased, most of the Shadowhunters under his command were happy that Alec was going to be the Head of the Institute permanently. Underhill, one of the team leaders, had even congratulated Alec when they were all informed. It felt good to have the support of the majority of his people, even if he had to see Izzy scowling every time they crossed paths.

Everything was ready, and Alec’s stomach lurched uncomfortably every single time the wedding was mentioned.

Three days before the wedding, his parents summoned him to the Head of the Institute's office. His soon to be office. 

Maryse and Robert were sitting on the chairs on the little living area close to the fireplace, and Alec sat with them without waiting for an invitation, under normal circumstances he would never do that, but there he was, about to get married to a complete stranger to save the family, he didn’t think his parents would dare to comment on his lack of propriety now. Besides, that was going to be his office soon enough.

His mother was holding a stack of papers firmly, and glanced down at it for a second, before focusing all her attention on Alec.

"You'll meet your soon to be husband the day before the wedding, when the Institute will be hosting an engagement party for you," Maryse said without preamble, like she was saying nothing out of the ordinary.

Alec's eyes widened, and he felt his heart thundering inside his chest, he was excited, and scared, and perplexed, all at the same time, but he held it all in. He couldn't react. Not if he wanted to keep it a secret from his father.

"Alright," he replied with faked detachment.

"We are expecting all the most relevant Downworld leaders, not only from New York, but from all around the world," Robert said, looking at Alec attentively, as if waiting for something. "You'll be expected to interact with most of them, as well as all the Clave representatives that will be in attendance. You should take advantage of it to establish some contacts with the New York Downworlders to make cooperation easier in the future," he advised.

"This is also your opportunity to demonstrate that you are a good leader. They are all aware that you've been effectively the Head of this Institute for the past month. Any flaws will be reflected on you. Have your subordinates on their best behaviours, especially your siblings," Maryse warned.

Alec understood it perfectly. Jace and Izzy couldn't ruin this. This time, the whole family would be ruined if Jace and Izzy stepped out of line.

"Can I ask who?" Alec asked carefully.

"The High Warlock of Brooklyn," his father answered, still observing him.

"He was obviously the best choice," Maryse added before Alec could say anything. "You see, Alec, with the rivalry between Vampires and Werewolves, if you were to marry either of them there is a big chance the other group wouldn't recognize your position with the due respect. And the Seelies didn't send any candidates. Besides, Warlocks are respected amongst all other factions of Downworlders. And the High Warlock of Brooklyn is highly regarded all around the world. Obviously better than someone who is only considered important locally."

His mother was a genius. 

He didn't know who the other options were, but it was obvious that she had spun it away from any female candidates. 

And now he was going to marry a man. 

A Warlock. 

Not even in his wildest dreams he ever thought it would be possible. If only he could marry a man of his own choosing, everything would be perfect. But he knew that was the best his mother could do under the circumstances, and he loved her for it. Alec couldn’t resist giving his mother a small grateful smile.

Maryse dropped her eyes to the papers on her hands, her lips tilting upwards discreetly.

"It was decided that the ceremony will be performed by a Warlock and a Silent Brother. During the Nephilim part of the ceremony you will gift your fiance with a golden brooch where you will draw the Wedded Union Rune, then you’ll draw the Rune on your own hand. And during the Warlock part of the ceremony the Warlock officiant will perform a bonding spell. We were told you should expect some dizziness immediately after the spell."

Alec nodded. He could deal with that, a little dizziness was nothing compared to the rest of it.

"After the ceremony, your husband and all the other representatives will sign the Alliance and we’ll come back to the Institute where we’ll have a small reception only for family and close friends," Maryse finished reading and gave Alec the papers. "Anything else you need to know is there. If you have any questions you can ask us or your fiance during your engagement party."

"Will I still live at the Institute or—"

"You are expected to live with your spouse," Robert said, still staring at Alec attentively. "That’s your only question?"

"So far, yes. Maybe I’ll have more after reading this?" Alec indicated the stack of papers on his hands.

"So you have no objections over being expected to marry a man?" Robert asked, frowning.

Alec was surprised his father hadn’t said anything before. From the look on Robert’s face he had been expecting Alec to rage against their decision or to refuse to go on with the arrangement. Alec’s compliance had caught Robert completely off guard. Unlike Maryse and Izzy, Robert had obviously never realised Alec had no interest in women.

"It’s like mom said." Alec shrugged, trying to show indifference. "If you believe he is the best option then he is the best option."

"Exactly," Maryse said proudly. "I knew we could count on you to do the right thing for all of us, Alec."

Alec gave the two of them a curt nod and stood up to leave. Robert was still observing him intensely, but made no objections as Alec walked away. 

His mother had done it. He was not going to be forced to marry a woman. All he wanted to do right now was look up the High Warlock of Brooklyn’s file on the Clave database. He couldn’t wait to find out who he was going to marry.

He picked up his tablet and was about to click on the database to search the High Warlock when he froze. Suddenly he was afraid of what he would find. His fiance was a High Warlock, so he had to be powerful and from what Alec knew powerful Warlocks were usually extremely old. Alec felt something pressing his stomach.

What if the Warlock was centuries old and completely disconnected from their current time period? What if they never managed to understand each other? What if he was a bad person? There were still so many things that could go wrong even if he was going to marry a man.

No. Alec wouldn’t look at his fiance’s file now, he had no time to freak out about any of those things, he had a lot to do and not nearly enough time. He would do it later, when he would be able to go through the file without interruptions.

So he got back to his room and started to reorganize the patrol schedules for the night of the engagement party. The best he could do in such short notice was send to the field everyone more reluctant to accept change and keep the agreeable ones on site. This way only the more open minded ones were going to interact with the Downworld leaders. They couldn’t afford to have one of Alec’s subordinates being impolite to their guests in any way. That wouldn’t only ruin the wedding but the whole Alliance.

Alec also had to speak to Jace and Izzy. If a random Shadowhunter could ruin the Alliance, his siblings could ruin their whole lives if they were the ones causing problems. There was no doubt in Alec’s mind that the Clave would be even worse to all of them if Izzy or Jace ruined this after the negotiations for the Alliance had been stuck for the past sixteen years.

He also had to read the wedding plans his mother had given him. Alec was sure there were all kinds of protocols that he would have to observe before and during the ceremony. He didn’t know anything about Warlock traditions, so he should also do some extra research on it, just to be sure he wouldn’t do anything wrong after the wedding either.

And he had to pack. Because he was going to move out of the Institute to live with his husband. Where he was going to be expected to sleep with his husband. 

The anxiety started to creep back up from the pit of his stomach, so he shoved it down again, he had no time to panic about his marital duties. Not yet.

With the new schedule ready, Alec left his room and went to look for Jace and Izzy. He found them eating together at the dining hall, they were far away from everybody else, talking in hushed tones with their heads together. Alec put some food on a plate and walked in their direction. Their conversation immediately stopped when he placed his plate and his tablet on the table.

"Hey," Alec greeted as he sat in front of Izzy, they hadn’t exactly been avoiding each other, but he had been extremely busy lately, so it had been a couple of weeks since he last sat down to have dinner with her.

Their parents were helping him learn everything he didn’t already know about being Head of the Institute, and he had to make sure everything was running smoothly during the transitional period. During meal times, his mother had been giving him a crash course in Clave politics, and his father told him who he could count on within the Council and who he should avoid. By next week he would be officially the Head of the New York Institute, he couldn’t allow anything to go wrong now.

Izzy and Jace only nodded and kept eating. Alec felt awkward. He knew they wouldn’t approve his decision, but he never thought it would affect their relationship that much.

He sighed. "I need to talk to you."

"Alright?" Jace said slowly, raising his eyes to look at Alec.

"I need your help," he murmured, looking from Jace to Izzy.

"Are you finally calling off this ridiculous wedding?" she asked, putting her fork down forcefully.

Alec shook his head and sighed again. He could do this, this had to work, he had to make this work.

"Then I don’t know how you expect us to help you." Izzy crossed her arms.

"I know you don’t like it," Alec said, as low as he could, no one else could hear it. "I know you don’t approve it. But this is my decision to make and I made it. No one forced me to accept it."

"If this is your decision to make and you don’t need our approval, then I don’t see why you would need our help," Izzy grunted, pushing her plate away, before she stood up and stomped out of the dining hall without looking back.

Alec rubbed his eyes with his fingers. He knew she was angry with all of this, but he at least expected her to listen. He took his hands away from his face and looked at Jace.

Jace was staring at his food intently. Alec could feel some of his emotions coming through their bond: Anger, protectiveness, confusion, frustration.

"Are you sure about this?" Jace asked, raising his eyes to look into Alec’s.

"Yes."

"What do you need, _ parabatai_?" Jace gave him a small half-smile and a huge weight left Alec’s shoulders. He knew he was flooding Jace’s side of the bond with relief, but he didn’t care enough to block it.

"I had to ask if you’ll be my suggenes and give me away on Saturday," Alec said, returning Jace’s half-smile.

"Of course I will," Jace rolled his eyes. "If this is what you want I’ll go with you to the end of the world. _ Whither thou goest, I will go._"

"Thank you," Alec murmured and took a deep breath. "There is going to be an engagement party here on Friday and I need you to help me keep everything under control. If anyone even _ looks _ wrong at a Downworlder all of this could be ruined."

"Engagement party?" Jace raised an eyebrow. "Does this mean you know who you’ll be marrying?"

"I just found out," Alec murmured, suddenly embarrassed. How was he supposed to tell Jace that he was okay with marrying a man? How could he tell Jace that he was much more than okay with it?

"So?"

"So," Alec bit the inside of his mouth. "He’s the High Warlock of Brooklyn."

"Oh." Jace looked at Alec intensely for a second and then reached out to take Alec’s tablet. "Have you look up his file already?"

No reaction. Absolutely no reaction. 

Alec had no idea how he was supposed to see that. 

Was Jace not reacting because he knew Alec had no choice on who he was going to marry or was there another reason for him to completely ignore the fact that Alec was about to marry a man?

"I didn’t look at his file yet, I was fixing the schedule for Friday night then I came here to talk to you."

He had thought about it. He was going to look later tonight, alone in his bedroom where he would be able to react whatever way he liked without having to worry about anyone else seeing it.

"Let’s look it up," Jace said with a gleam on his unmatched eyes, typing away on Alec’s tablet. Before Alec could make a move to stop him, he smirked and read; "The High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane."

Magnus Bane. Alec was going to marry Magnus Bane in three days. The anxiety started to come back up, and Alec shoved it back down again.

"Is he going to become Magnus Lightwood, or are you going to be Alec Bane?"

"I have no idea," Alec murmured, his eyes fixed on the tablet on Jace’s hand.

"Maybe hyphenate it? Lightwood-Bane?" Jace raised his eyebrows, still looking at the tablet. "Born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies, it’s Jakarta nowadays. Date of Birth unknown. Ok, really old then. Warlock Mark is cat eyes. Do you think they have a picture of his eyes on the database?" Jace read without allowing Alec any reaction time.

"I didn’t even see a picture of him yet, Jace," Alec mumbled, his hands itching to take the tablet and look for himself.

"Yeah, of course," Jace said, clicking something on the tablet and opening another window. "Handsome." Jace nodded approvingly.

"Give me that," Alec couldn’t take it anymore, he snatched the tablet from Jace’s hands and looked at his future husband.

Jace was right. 

Magnus Bane was handsome. 

On the profile picture his eyes were chocolate brown. He had golden-brown skin, his hair was spiked up, he had a goatee, and his eyes were lined in black makeup. It looked like he was in a party, his shirt was opened and he had several necklaces on.

Alec was entranced.

"There are more pictures here," Jace said, leaning over the table and clicking on a tab.

It was a mix of old black and white photos and more recent ones. Most of them taken in parties where Magnus was always surrounded by beautiful people. In all the pictures Magnus was the most beautiful of them all. Alec couldn’t take his eyes off him.

"He obviously likes to party," Jace said, scrolling through some of the pictures. "Guess you’ll have to learn how to loosen up a bit." He chuckled.

"I— I don’t—" Alec stuttered. He didn’t even know what he wanted to say. He didn’t think he was able to form rational sentences right now.

Magnus looked like a dream come true. He could only hope that his personality would match his beauty. Then his nerves came back full force. Magnus could be gorgeous but that was no guarantee he would be kind, or that he would be patient with Alec, and Alec had never been in a relationship, he had no idea how it would work, he had never even been kissed.

Alec’s breath hitched.

"Don’t worry," Jace said, sitting back down and looking at Alec carefully. "I’m sure it’s going to be okay."

"It is," Alec exhaled heavily, fighting to get everything back under control. He took his eyes away from a black and white picture of Magnus posing with an old airplane and looked at Jace. "We are all going to be okay."

"You do know that we want you to be happy, right?" Jace sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "You know Izzy is only this upset because you are making this huge sacrifice for the family and she has no idea how to help you."

"It would help if she didn’t fight me," Alec snorted tiredly. "This is already too much without me having to worry about her too."

"Let me talk to her, I’ll make her see that she is only making things worse."

Alec nodded. He just knew that everything would be better if he had both Izzy and Jace supporting him. 

Jace took Alec’s tablet again and started to look through something while they ate. "Your future hubby owns the best nightclub in town," he said, with his mouth full. "Do you think he would give me some family discounts and especial vip access?" He added, smirking.

"Maybe wait until we are married before you start asking for things?" Alec laughed. Everything was going to work out. Jace was by his side and Izzy was going to come around. He could do this.

* * *

When Alec opened the door to his room the next night after dinner, Izzy was there, sitting cross legged on his bed and looking intensely at his golden tux hanging on the door of the closet.

"Jace says I’m being an ass and making everything even worse for you."

"Jace is right," Alec murmured, closing the door and sitting with her.

"I just can’t believe they were in the Circle," she said, biting her lip and looking up at Alec like he had all the answers. It had been a while since she last looked at him like that. "How can you just forgive them and keep on doing what they want?"

"I didn’t forgive them," Alec said after taking a deep breath. "And I’m not doing this because it’s what they want. I’m doing this for us, and Jace and Max. Because I don’t want their mistakes to ruin _our_ future."

"You shouldn’t have to throw away your life because our parents were stupid enough to follow a psychopath," she sighed, snuggling closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. "You shouldn’t pay for their mistakes."

"It’s still my choice, Iz," He said as he hugged her with one arm tightly. "I had two options, I chose the one I believe will be the best for all of us."

"How is this the best for you?"

"I’ll be the Head of the Institute in a couple of days?"

"And you’ll never have the chance to fall in love and marry someone of your choosing. Is that worth it?"

"I don’t know." Alec shrugged. "But who knows? Maybe I’ll be happy on my marriage."

"You can’t seriously think that you can be happy with whoever it is they chose for you," she huffed.

"I’m not sure, but I hope so," Alec said softly, thinking about Magnus’ smile and all the things he had read on his file.

Alec had spent a ridiculous amount of time going through Magnus’ file the night before. He had analyzed every single picture, read everything there was to read. He knew everything the Clave knew about Magnus, and he couldn’t wait to find out more.

"Jace told me the two of you went through your fiance’s file, but he didn’t tell me who she is. He said I would have to ask you myself or find out tomorrow with everybody else." She raised her head and looked up at him expectantly.

"His name is Magnus Bane," Alec whispered and the corners of his mouth moved up on their own, he bit back a smile.

"Magnus Bane," Izzy sat up straight and stared at him intensely. "A man. But how?"

"Mom."

"Mom?"

"She knew," Alec shook his head slowly. "She says she knows me and has always known. And then she made sure I wouldn’t be stuck with a wife."

"I can’t believe it," Izzy said, fighting a smile, her eyes full of tears. "I had no idea she even cared—"

"She does," Alec whispered earnestly. "She loves us, Iz. I know she disappointed you and that what she did is horrible, but she would do anything for us."

"Even arranging the first gay marriage in the history of the Clave," Izzy snickered. "I guess I’ll have to forgive her now."

"Only if you want to."

Izzy shrugged and bit her lip, then she put her legs under herself and stared at him. "So, tell me about Magnus Bane, is he handsome?"

"Yeah," Alec murmured, grinning. "He really is."


	4. Chapter 4

"Listen up!" Alec called from the top of the stairs to the side of the command center, where all the Shadowhunters of the Institute were waiting for orders.

His engagement party was less than an hour away. Instead of his usual gear, he was wearing a dark blue button up shirt, black formal pants and black formal shoes, courtesy of Izzy, of course. He felt restricted and uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do.

"The Downworld representatives and the Clave representatives will be here in less than an hour. I’ll need all of you to be in your best behaviour. Do not say or do anything that can be considered offensive. Don’t stare at Warlock Marks, don’t comment on Vampire, Seelie or Werewolf behaviours. Do not engage with any of the guests if you are not sure if what you have to say can be interpreted as an offense. Any unworth comments or actions toward the Downworlders will be punished not by me, but by Inquisitor Herondale, who has been working on this deal for the past sixteen years. Don’t make the New York Institute look bad. You are dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Alec heard some of them replying while the group dispersed.

Alec was not entirely sure this party would go without problems. If him marrying a Downworlder had been reason for gossip and displeasure, him marrying a man was taken even worse. Suddenly he had Shadowhunters asking to be relocated to other Institutes where ‘things were done properly’. But Alec didn’t care for what anyone thought. As long as he had the support of his family, he could deal with it.

Surprisingly, he also got a lot of support from other Shadowhunters all over the world. Inquisitor Herondale had informed him that there were numerous requests from young Shadowhunters just out of training to be allocated in New York. In the end, Alec was almost sure he would end up with a better team than he bargained for. Still, for now, all the people who were against his marriage were there, working for him and not hiding their displeasure.

"Don’t worry." Maryse squeezed his arm when he walked down the steps. "I saw that you changed the schedule to send our most adverse hunters away from here during the party. Good plan."

Alec nodded. Now that the time for him to meet his future husband was here, he couldn’t push his anxiety down anymore. He had spent the whole day thinking about all the things that could go wrong, from Alec spilling his drink on Magnus’ clothes to someone being offensive to one of the Downworlders. He was so nervous that he couldn’t stop rubbing the palms of his hands with his thumbs. He knew it was spilling to Jace through their bond, his _ parabatai _had spend the whole day training and snapping at anyone who got too close, but Alec couldn’t control it anymore.

"Have you talked to your siblings? Jace was in a mood the whole day," Maryse asked, turning her head to look at Izzy, Jace and Max on the other side of the command center. The three of them were on their best formal clothes. Izzy and Jace were talking and looking at one of the monitors, and Max was pouting, holding Jace’s leg and looking around the command center.

"They aren’t going to be a problem," Alec stated firmly.

"Good," she said, before taking a small box from the pocket of her blazer and putting in his hand. "The Lightwood family ring," Maryse stated, observing Alec attentively. 

"Right," Alec sighed, opening the box and looking at the platinum ring with a L in the center surrounded by flames.

The idea of presenting Magnus with the family ring made him a little uneasy. It was supposed to represent love, commitment and devotion, and Alec didn’t feel any of those things for Magnus. At least not yet.

"You don’t have to give him the ring tonight," Maryse said softly as if she could read his mind. "No one addressed it during the marriage negotiations, giving your fiance a ring is not Nephilim tradition."

"But it’s Lightwood tradition," Alec stated, raising his eyes to his mother.

If they didn’t mean for him to give Magnus the ring, why was she giving it to Alec now?

"It’s supposed to be given as a symbol of love. Save it for when you mean it," she advised, closing the box and wrapping his hand around it. 

Alec nodded, pocketing the box, he thought he understood it. Maryse was giving him the ring as a sign of trust in the future of this marriage. And when — not if — when time came for Alec to love Magnus, he would have the ring to present Magnus with. It would be Alec’s choice, if nothing else, giving the ring would be Alec’s decision.

"Ready?" She asked, composing herself on her usual impassive demeanor.

"Yes," Alec said firmly, there was no room for second guessing his decisions, he had to be ready. He followed his mother to the dining hall and prepared himself to welcome the guests.

The long tables of the dining hall were gone, giving place to small round tables covered in white tablecloth. There were tables with drinks and appetizers to the side. Some with notes attached declaring them safe for Vampire, Werewolf or Seelie consumption. Alec knew from his mother that they had done their best to be as inclusive as possible.

After the guests started to arrive and the dining hall started to get full, Alec calmed down a bit. All his conversations were extremely repetitive and easy. He only had to talk about his plans for the Institute and how he intended to work with the representatives to improve Shadow World relations. At first all the Downworld representatives seemed to expect him to mess it up or to be dismissive, but he thought he left all of them with a good enough impression.

"Alec Lightwood," a voice called from behind him as a Seelie Knight walked away. Alec turned to see a Vampire he recognized as Raphael Santiago, leader of the Dumort Coven, the biggest in New York.

"Raphael Santiago," Alec greeted, extending his hand for the other man to shake. "Pleased to see you could make it."

Raphael looked at him intensely for a few moments, narrowing his eyes while they shook hands. "Aren’t you twelve? I distinctly recall you being twelve."

Alec blushed slightly. He remembered it too. It had been nine years ago, when he had first met Raphael. The Vampire had come to the New York Institute to discuss a drug shipment that was coming to the city, it was shortly before Jace came to live with them. Alec may have had a quick crush on Raphael back then, Izzy sure thought so.

"I’m not twelve. That was a while ago."

"Are you sure?" Raphael asked, releasing Alec’s hand but still looking at him warily.

"Of course I’m sure I’m not twelve, I know how old I am," Alec said, biting his tongue not to be rude to one of the Downworld representatives.

"Good," Raphael nodded. "Wouldn’t want Magnus to marry a child."

"You know him?" Alec couldn’t stop himself from asking. 

The way Raphael said Magnus’ name was different from the other people there. Everybody talked about Magnus like he was some entity instead of a person. When Raphael said it, it sounded like he cared. Though it was hard to tell with the Vampire, his face had barely displayed any emotion other than boredom since they started their conversation.

"You could say that," Raphael said stoically, and left before Alec could say anything else.

"Did you meet him yet?" Izzy appeared beside him out of nowhere, looping her arm with his.

"I don’t think he is here," Alec murmured back to her, using his height to survey the guests furtively.

"Weird," Izzy said, smiling at the guests all around them. "Do you think he changed his mind."

"Don’t say that," Alec murmured. He couldn’t imagine the mess it would be if Magnus changed his mind the day before the wedding. There was no way his mother would manage to spin the Clave into giving him a male fiance again. Specially not one as handsome and powerful as Magnus.

Izzy stayed with Alec making the rounds and talking to guests for a few more minutes until Maryse took her place.

"Your fiance requested that the two of you meet privately," she said through her smile. "He is waiting for you at the Head’s office. Go discreetly." 

Alec nodded and walked out of the party, nodding at anyone who looked his way and stopping to make small talk with a couple of guests. Once he was finally in front of the door to his soon to be office, his hands were sweaty and he was trembling a little. His future husband was right behind that door, waiting to meet him.

He took a deep breath and dried his hands on his pants. He could do this. It would be just like it had been with all the others he had met tonight. They would introduce themselves, talk about their prospects for the future of the Shadow World and make small talk. It was fine. Alec could do this.

The first thing he realised when he saw Magnus was that he couldn’t do this. His mind went blank immediately after that. 

Magnus had his back to the door. His shoulders were broader than the pictures made it seem. He was wearing blue pants and a black jacket, it wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary if the jacket wasn’t covered in sequins and full of intricate embroidery designs. He turned, and Alec lost his breath. The pictures didn’t make him justice.

Magnus was absolutely stunning, and Alec immediately felt himself lacking. How could anyone expect him to marry Magnus when he looked like that?

Everything, from the angles on his face and his perfect lips, to his open collar full of necklaces barely covering his chest, to the amount of glitter on his hair and face that made him sparkle as he moved, the makeup on his eyes, the glimmer of the rings covering his fingers, it all made him look like a dream.

"Hi," Alec whispered, immediately forgetting all he had planned to say.

Magnus’ eyebrows rose and he smirked. "_You _ are Alexander Lightwood?"

"A-Alec," he stuttered.

_ Great_, Alec thought hazily, it had been five seconds and he was already making a fool out of himself.

"Oh, well," Magnus smirked, tilting his head to the side and looking Alec up and down. "I guess this won’t be as dreadful as I feared." He took a step forward extending his hand to Alec, he moved with such easiness and fluidity that he seemed to be floating. "Magnus Bane."

"Hi," Alec said again dumbly, a small smile tugged the corners of his lips as he shook Magnus' hand. He wondered for a second if Magnus could hear his heartbeat as loudly as he could.

"I’m not sure whose brilliant idea it was to make us meet for the first time the night before the wedding in a room full of strangers," Magnus rolled his eyes, he had a hand on his right ear and was playing with his ear cuff. "But I decided we had to draw a line on their interference quickly if we want this to work. Don’t you agree?"

Alec nodded mesmerized. As Magnus talked, Alec couldn’t stop himself from staring at his lips, he didn’t think he had ever seen such beautiful lips in his life. For a second he wondered how those lips would feel like. 

He felt his cheeks getting hot, he was probably blushing. Alec took a deep breath to focus his thoughts on what Magnus was saying. He was not sure how he was supposed to be married to Magnus if he was incapable of forming coherent thoughts in his presence, but Alec was sure he was going to figure it out eventually.

Magnus smiled amused. "Why don’t we sit down for a couple of minutes and talk? We should take some things out of the way before we are permanently bind together tomorrow."

"Yeah, good— hm— It’s a good idea," Alec stuttered. 

He couldn’t believe he was being so pathetic, this way Magnus would think he was an idiot. At least this time around he managed to say more than one word. Next time he could even try to talk without stuttering.

They sat across from each other on the chairs in front of the fireplace. Magnus was looking at Alec intently, his gaze going from Alec’s flushed face, to his hands, that he was rubbing together, to his legs, that were rocking up and down incessantly.

Alec knew Magnus could see how agitated he was, but he was unable to contain it. He had been both excited and terrified of meeting Magnus for the past three days and now he couldn't keep it in anymore. He just hoped he would be able to rein it in before going back to the party. The other Downworlders and the Clave couldn’t see him agitated and fidgety. It wouldn’t give the right impression.

"I was going to ask you if you were comfortable marrying a man. I was there when your mother was arguing with the Clave and I got the impression that she couldn’t care less about your opinion on the matter." Magnus raised one of his hands to his chin and tapped his lips with a finger lightly, studying Alec through narrowed eyes. "Now I wonder if I was wrong about her intentions."

"What— hm— What are you asking me?"

"If you are okay with this, I guess," Magnus shrugged. "If you are okay with marrying me."

Alec hadn’t expected the question. For some reason it never crossed his mind that Magnus would ask his opinion. He wondered what Magnus would do if he said he wasn’t okay with it. Maybe Magnus would tell the Clave and the representatives that he was the one that didn’t want to marry Alec. It was somewhat relieving. Even if Alec had no reason to say no.

"I— yes." He nodded emphatically, blushing furiously.

Then he took a deep breath and decided that he had to be completely honest, he was going to be married to this man, he had to make sure they understood each other fully. He knew Magnus would be alright with it. He had volunteered for the marriage knowing that Alec was the other part, and his file said he was known to have been romantically involved with both men and women. He wasn't close minded like the Clave was.

Still, it was not something that Alec was used to saying out loud.

"My mother knows that I couldn’t ever feel any kind of attraction to a woman." His voice was quiet, but he knew Magnus could hear him. "Whatever you heard her saying, she was probably trying her best to make sure I wouldn’t end up marrying someone I couldn’t ever feel anything for."

Magnus was nodding while Alec talked, his eyes never leaving Alec’s, his smile kind. 

"My father doesn’t know," Alec added, looking down at his hands and breathing out. "And of course the Clave don’t know. So my mom—" He shrugged. 

"I see," Magnus murmured. "Why are you doing this, Alexander?" He asked, indicating the both of them with his hand.

Alec looked at him for a couple of moments biting the inside of his mouth. 

He knew what he was supposed to say, his mother had made sure to instruct him on the right answer for this specific question. He should talk about his duty to bring peace to the Shadow World, and how he wanted to be the one bringing Downworlders and Shadowhunters together in this new age of cooperation. And although he did want all those things, that was not why he had said yes a month ago, when his parents came into his room and dropped a bomb on his future.

He had decided to be honest with Magnus just a minute ago, he wouldn’t start lying now.

"My parents were about to lose the Institute, the Clave would end up separating me from my siblings," he sighed, then shrugged. "I wish I could give you a big selfless reason about bringing peace to the world and all that, but I just wanted to keep my family safe and together."

"It’s still a selfless reason," Magnus said, watching him attently.

"Why are you doing this?" Alec asked back, he knew that this wasn’t only a sacrifice for him but for Magnus too. Alec was not the only one marrying a complete stranger for the good of their people.

"Oh, I’m all for the big selfless reason," Magnus said, making an expansive gesture with his hands, but his smirk gave him away. "No, I’m not in this just for the peace of the Shadow World either." He gave Alec a lopsided smile. "I may have gotten myself into a couple of disagreements with other High Warlocks and now there are some other Warlocks campaigning to take my position as High Warlock of Brooklyn. I like my job," Magnus added, playing with his ear cuff. "I like taking care of the Warlocks under my jurisdiction. This arrangement guarantees no one can take that away from me."

Somehow Alec knew Magnus was being honest but not completely honest. They looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds and Alec felt a connection. It didn’t really matter, whatever it was that Magnus was not saying wouldn’t change anything.

"Well," Magnus said loudly, clapping his hands once. "Now that_ that_ is out of the way, I have one very important question that can throw this whole deal out of the window." 

He looked serious, so Alec sat up straighter on his chair. He couldn’t screw this up. Whatever it was, he couldn’t ruin this. Not now. Magnus was way better than what he had expected, Alec felt like they could have something good, he couldn’t ruin it and end up having to marry someone else. He swallowed dry and nodded for Magnus to go on.

"What is your opinion on cats?"

"What?" Alec frowned, taken aback.

"Cats, what do you think of them?"

"This is your very important question? My opinion on cats?" Alec questioned bewildered, that couldn’t be it. But Magnus only nodded, still looking serious. "I like them? We have a cat here at the Institute, he doesn’t really like anyone, but sometimes he comes here while I’m working and he lies down in front of the fireplace and—" Alec shrugged.

"Great answer!" Magnus smiled broadly, washing Alec with a mixture of humor and relief. "I couldn’t marry someone who doesn’t like cats. Chairman would never forgive me."

"Chairman?" Alec asked, raising one eyebrow humorously.

"Chairman Meow, my cat, of course."

"Of course." Alec grinned.

It was easy. Talking to Magnus was much easier than talking to other people usually was. Alec had never been a sociable person, but Magnus made him want to be.

Magnus Bane was nothing like Alec expected from reading his file and hearing people talk about him, and Alec couldn’t be more happy about it.

"I think we should—" Alec said, gesturing to the door behind his back.

"Oh yes, we should join the party," Magnus nodded, standing up in a fluid motion and waiting for Alec to do the same. 

Once Alec was up, Magnus murmured: "But first."

He took a step forward, invading Alec’s personal space, and tilted his head up slightly.

Alec’s breath became erratic, he could feel heat radiating from Magnus’ whole body, though they weren’t even touching each other. He felt a little dizzy, he had never been this close to a man under this circumstances. This was all he had never dared to want.

"Is this okay?" Magnus whispered, he was close enough for Alec to feel his breath. 

Alec shuddered and took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself down a little. Magnus smelled good, Alec wouldn't be able to identify the scent, but it was something woody and comforting. He breathed in again.

Magnus looked from Alec’s eyes to his lips and then back at his eyes in a clear question.

Alec’s heart started to beat even faster, he was sure Magnus had to be hearing it now. He didn’t think he would be able to say anything out loud, so he just nodded. And then Magnus’ lips closed the gap between them.

Magnus’ lips were warm, and soft and left Alec’s far too quickly for his liking. He didn’t even know if they could call it a kiss, but it still left Alec’s legs shaking and a stupid smile on his lips. He didn’t know how to react, but it didn’t seem to matter much.

Magnus took a step back, touching his lips with his fingertips, smiling softly. "We’ll have to kiss tomorrow to seal the bonding spell. I didn’t want our first kiss to be in front of everybody."

Alec agreed, he really didn’t want his first kiss ever to be in front of the Clave and the Downworld representatives, not to mention his parents.

Magnus cocked his head, indicating the door, and raised one eyebrow inquisitively. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah," Alec said breathlessly and left the office with Magnus.

They walked side by side through the Institute’s hallways silently, Alec's mind still focused on Magnus' lips, until they turned a corner into the command center and Magnus said conversationally; "You said you have siblings."

"Yeah, three." Alec grinned, talking about his brothers and sister was always easier than talking about himself. "Max is only six, didn’t even start official training yet. Izzy is seventeen, and she is my best friend. And Jace is my _ parabatai_."

"Oh," Magnus tilted his head to look at him. "I didn’t know you could form the bond with someone who is already family."

Alec frowned. "Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s allowed. Jace is adopted."

"Ah, that makes more sense. I know it’s a very strong bond, I always found it interesting."

"Did you meet many _ parabatai _before?" Alec asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. It was not exactly common.

"A long time ago," Magnus nodded as they turned the corner into the dining hall. Then they had to start greeting the guests and had little chance to talk to each other.

Alec spent the rest of the party close to Magnus as they talked to the guests and Magnus introduced him to people.

"Alexander, this is my very old and very boring friend, Ragnor Fell," Magnus said, introducing Alec to a Warlock with prominent horns.

"It’s nice to meet you," Alec shook Ragnor’s hand. "Please call me Alec," he added, looking pointedly at Magnus.

"You should run while you still can young Shadowhunter," Ragnor said with a british accent, looking sideways at Magnus. "This one is pure trouble, let me tell you, my life is so much more peaceful when he is not around."

"Your life is so much more boring." Magnus rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "And stop trying to scare him away, he will end up believing you."

"And so he should," Ragnor stated, looking straight into Alec’s eyes. "You have no idea the amount of trouble he can cause, this one time in Peru—"

"You are not going to tell Alexander about Peru," Magnus interrupted. "I’ve known him less than an hour, allow him to form an opinion before you start to ruin my reputation."

Alec couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. Their bickering seemed so comfortable and well practiced, like they’d been doing it for centuries. It took Alec a second to realise that they probably had.

"And this is my dear friend Tessa Gray," Magnus introduced him to a tall woman with kind eyes a little while later. Alec assumed she was a Warlock, but she had no apparent marks so there was no way of knowing for sure.

"Alec." Tessa smiled extending her hand for him to shake.

"Tessa was actually the first Warlock to officially marry a Shadowhunter," Magnus added conversationally.

"Well, that’s only because I’m half-Shadowhunter," Tessa shrugged. "Back then I lived amongst your kind."

"Oh," Alec frowned, paying a little more attention to her. He couldn’t see any runes and there were no indications of her being a Shadowhunter, but he didn’t think they were lying to him. "I didn’t know there were Warlocks that are half-Shadowhunter."

"That would probably be because I’m the only one," she said kindly. "And I don’t usually mingle much. I rather spend my time doing research at the Spiral Labyrinth if I’m being honesty. But I couldn’t let Magnus marry a Shadowhunter without my presence."

They spent a couple more minutes talking to Tessa and then excused themselves to talk to more guests.

"Tessa actually helped me organize our wedding ceremony," Magnus commented, taking a sip from his glass. "She can’t bare runes so her husband drew the Wedded Union Rune on her bracelet, like you’ll do tomorrow with the brooch."

Before Alec could say anything, someone poked him on the shoulder. "So," Izzy’s voice came from behind them. "Aren’t you going to introduce us?" she asked when they turned, Max holding her hand and looking up at Magnus with unashamed curiosity.

"Magnus, this is my sister Izzy and my brother Max," Alec said proudly, smiling at them.

"It’s a great pleasure to meet you, my dear," Magnus said, bowing to kiss the hand she offered him, then he crouched to get into Max’s eye level and extended his hand. "And you, little Shadowhunter."

"You are a Warlock, right?" Max asked, making both Alec and Izzy freeze. They had no idea what Max had heard from the other Shadowhunters, but the child was like a sponge for knowledge and known to eavesdrop all over the Institute. There was no way of knowing what he knew about Warlocks.

"Yes, that is correct," Magnus said, smiling kindly.

"So you can do magic, right?" Max asked, his eyes full of wonder.

Magnus’ smile grew bigger. "All kinds of magic."

"Cool!" Max beamed. "Can you show me some?"

Magnus looked around for a second, and then extended both his hands in front of him. Max, as well as Izzy and Alec, observed his hands without blinking. And then small colorful fireworks started blowing from his palms.

Max squealed happily and both Izzy and Alec laughed.

Their small moment attracted more attention than Alec expected. When he looked around, he noticed several guests observing them attentively. Some of the Downworlders looked approving, others suspicious. Maryse and Robert both had unreadable looks on their faces.

Alec thought it had to be considered a good thing by the Clave and the Downworlders. Max had been interested but not disrespectful, it at least showed that he had no prejudices. And from his conversations with the guests, he knew that most of them believed that exposure to other cultures since childhood was the best way to eradicate prejudice.

Magnus and Max were still smiling at each other, when Maryse and Robert approached them. Seeing them, Magnus’ smile vanished quicker than Alec thought possible. He stood up straight and locked eyes with Maryse as if expecting her to say something nasty.

"Mr Bane," she greeted, extending her hand for him. She didn’t smile like she had been doing all night. Magnus shook her hand and then took the hand Robert was offering.

Alec was aware that they all knew each other, but he had no idea why the air had become so heavy.

"Robert, Maryse." Magnus nodded curtly.

"I have hope that we can start over now that we are going to be family?" Maryse asked earnestly, looking into Magnus’ eyes.

Alec was sure that there was more than Maryse and Robert being in the Circle and being part of the Uprising between them now. But he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to know how Magnus knew his parents, he had a feeling he wouldn’t like it.

"There is just so much that hopes and promises can do, is your actions going forward that will establish what kind of relationship we will have," Magnus said, observing Maryse intently. His face, that had been so expressive while talking to Alec earlier and when showing magic to Max a moment before, now was completely blank.

"Then by our actions we will prove that our intentions are good," Maryse stated and Robert nodded by her side.

Magnus nodded back, and the tension dissipated a little.

"I see you’ve met my children," Maryse said with a tentative half-smile. "I hope Max wasn’t bothering you too much."

Magnus turned back to Max and gave him a kind, genuine smile. "I found him to be a very smart young man, no bother at all." He turned back to Alec’s parents. "In fact, all your children have been delightful so far."

Alec smiled to himself when Izzy nodged him with her elbow.

Before anyone could say anything else, Alec heard a woman clearing her throat behind Magnus and turned to see who it was. The woman had dark skin and long braided hair. She was observing the Shadowhunters with caution, but she smiled brightly when Magnus’ eyes met hers.

"Magnus, as much as I enjoy standing around talking about politics and shaking hands with all these people, I have to go to work," she said condescendingly. "So I was wondering if you would like to introduce me to your fiance now?"

"Of course you would have to work the night of my engagement party," Magnus said, placing a hand on his chest dramatically. "You never have time for me anymore, Catarina."

She rolled her eyes at him, and turned to Alec extending a hand for him to shake. "Catarina Loss, I would love to stay, but I had to trade off a shift with a colleague so I can be at your wedding tomorrow."

"Alec Lightwood. It’s a pleasure to meet you," Alec said, shaking her hand. "I’m glad you could come."

"Catarina is a close friend, practically family," Magnus said, while Izzy and Alec’s parents greeted Catarina. "She is a nurse and is always working too much for a crappy wage."

Catarina shook her head amusedly, but kept her attention on Alec. "I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunity to get to know each other better."

Alec smiled at her, she returned the smile, nodded to Izzy, Max, Maryse and Robert and left.

"She is a gifted healer, spent most of her life helping Mundanes," Magnus said in an obviously fond tone, turning back to Alec and his parents with a small smile still lingering on his face.

"It’s an admirable way to use her gift," Alec stated, entranced by the care and affection he could see in Magnus.


	5. Chapter 5

After another hour of them walking through the party and talking to guests, the dining hall started to empty out, most of the Downworlders had already left and only some members of the Council remained. Alec suspected the Council members were only there to keep an eye on Alec and his family and make sure they wouldn’t ruin everything at the last second.

Alec didn’t think they had to worry too much about that, the engagement party had gone off without a hitch and as far as Alec knew none of the New York Shadowhunters had done anything to jeopardize the Alliance. 

The night had also been far more pleasant than Alec had expected, and he knew it was only because Magnus had a way to put people at ease with his words and his smiles. Or maybe that only worked on Alec, he had to admit that he was more than a little smitten already.

Whenever they had a couple of minutes alone, Magnus either made funny remarks about the people they had been talking to, or flirted with Alec, making him blush and go back to being a stuttering mess. Alec was lucky he always got a handle on it before they had to talk to someone else.

The only thing that bothered Alec a little was that he hadn’t managed to introduce Magnus to Jace. He hadn’t seen Jace since before he left the dining hall to meet Magnus. And he had no idea where his _ parabatai _ was.

"It’s okay," Magnus said the third time Alec turned around, looking for a blond head. "I can meet him tomorrow, something probably came up and he didn’t want to take you away from the party."

Alec knew Magnus was probably right. And more than that, he knew that Jace wouldn’t have disappeared without a good reason. But it was still annoying that he couldn’t introduce the two of them yet.

"You are right," Alec smiled to Magnus. "I won’t keep you from your friends any longer." He added, indicating Raphael and Ragnor with his head, the two of them were waiting for Magnus close to the door, both with their arms crossed and a bored look on their faces.

"Oh, yes, because they look so excited to go have some drinks with me at the club," Magnus sneered, rolling his eyes at his friends. "I’ll see you tomorrow," he added turning back to Alec with a small smile.

"At the altar," Alec murmured.

"I’ll be the one in blue," Magnus winked at him and left with his friends.

Alec stayed until all the guests were gone. Inquisitor Herondale was the last one to leave, giving Alec what he interpreted as an approving nod, although it was difficult to be sure when it came to her.

When the only ones left on the dining hall were his parents, Izzy and an extremely sleepy Max, Alec let himself relax and exhaled deeply.

"You did good, Alec," Robert said, patting his back.

"Even Imogen was impressed," Maryse said, grabbing Alec’s shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"Oh, was that her impressed face?" Izzy giggled, and Alec had the impression that she had managed to smuggle some extra drinks behind their parents back. "I thought she was constipated."

"Izzy," Alec said in a warning tone, but couldn’t stop himself from laughing with her.

Maryse rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything, before picking Max up and going away to put him to bed.

Alec left the dining hall a couple minutes later, after listening to Izzy’s praises to Magnus’ clothes and makeup. She was almost as charmed by Magnus as Alec.

He had planned to go to bed early, he had a full day tomorrow and it wouldn’t be good to show up at his own wedding with bags under his eyes. But first he had to make sure everything was in order with the Institute. 

The first thing he saw as he walked into the command center was a familiar head of blond hair watching one of the monitors.

"Where were you? I looked for you all over the party to introduce you to Magnus." Alec walked over and stood beside Jace.

"Duncan was being a dick so I may have locked him in a bathroom and taken his place on monitor duty so the Clave representatives wouldn’t think you were leaving gaps on security," Jace shrugged.

Alec sighed, shaking his head. Thank the Angel for Jace stepping up and making sure the Clave wouldn’t have reason to complain.

"What did he say?" Alec asked, he hadn’t thought Duncan was one of the more prejudiced Shadowhunters, but apparently he was wrong.

"Same bullshit as the others," Jace rolled his eyes impatiently. "That he couldn’t believe the Clave was willing to stoop down to the Downworlders level, and that he was ashamed to be forced to work for you."

"Oh, well, I guess he won’t be ashamed for much longer then," Alec shrugged dismissively. "He just found his way into my list of recruits to be sent to Wrangel Island. Inquisitor Herondale expects the full list by monday."

Jace chuckled. "It’s a shame I didn’t get to meet the future hubby though, Izzy said Max is completely smitten by him," he said, showing Alec his phone.

"Magnus was very good with Max," Alec nodded, focusing on the monitor in front of him, and doing his best not to blush.

"Only with Max?" Jace asked suggestively, scrolling through his phone and smirking. Alec took a glimpse of the screen over Jace’s shoulder and groaned, Izzy had sent him pictures the whole time.

"The two of you look cozy," Jace commented, staring at one of the pictures.

"He is very— hm—" Alec hesitated, he didn’t know how to talk about that. Didn’t know how much Jace had figured out in the past couple of days, or even if, like his mother and Izzy, he had always known.

If that was it, if Jace had always known, then nothing would change between them. Maybe that was what Jace was trying to imply by making these insinuations. Alec only hoped that if Jace knew, he didn’t figure all of it out, he would die of embarrassment if Jace ever said anything about Alec’s inappropriate crush on him.

"He is quite magical," Alec murmured, then cleaned his throat and said a little clearer: "Magnus is quite magical."

"Oh, wow," Jace laughed, patting Alec’s shoulder condescendingly. "Guess it’s a good thing you are marrying him tomorrow, it would be really embarrassing if we had to watch you trying to woo him with all this charm and confidence you have going on."

"Don’t be a dick," Alec shoved him with his shoulder, laughing too. He was so lucky he didn’t have to actually flirt with Magnus, at least he started to get more coherent after a while. It would be ridiculous if he had spent the whole night stammering while trying to talk to the guests.

"You were pretty satisfied for a while," Jace pointed out, pocketing his phone and looking sideways at Alec.

"We kissed," Alec murmured, blushing furiously. "Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"It was just a second and it wasn’t— it wasn’t— it was just a brush of lips—" Alec said hesitantly. "But it was good," he added, biting his lips and remembering Magnus’.

Jace nodded and they stayed in silence for a few seconds. "So that’s it," Jace’s tone had turned more serious, and Alec could feel some worry coming through the bond. "You like him, right?"

Alec took a deep breath and turned to face Jace. "I just met him."

"But you got a good impression? You think this could work? That you could actually be happy with him?" Jace questioned, staring at him intently.

"Yeah," Alec exhaled and let a little smile out. "I think so."

"Good," Jace nodded, letting out a long breath, and the worry that was coming from him turned into relief. "I don’t think I would be able to keep my word if he were some kind of disgusting creep."

"I don’t think mom would have chosen a disgusting creep to marry me," Alec snorted. "But thank you anyway."

"I don’t know, she chose Magnus Bane and he has a certain reputation," Jace said, wiggling his eyebrows insinuatingly.

"Don’t be a hypocrite." Alec rolled his eyes. "You are getting quite the reputation yourself." Alec faked a cough that sounded a lot like ‘book club’. "No rights to talk about Magnus."

Jace was shameless enough to give Alec a self-satisfied grin, before going back to the serious part of the conversation.

"He met everyone then? Was that alright?"

"He was great with Izzy and Max, but it was a little weird with mom and dad," Alec’s smile dropped as he remembered the tension between his future husband and his parents. He picked up the reports from the night, trying not to think too much about it.

"Hm, he probably knew our parents were in the Circle," Jace shrugged it off.

"I think they knew each other back then," Alec said without raising his eyes from the reports. "But mom was polite and offered to start over, after that it was a little less awkward."

"Good, imagine family dinners if they couldn’t be polite to each other." Jace shuddered and Alec grimaced. "Met any of his friends?"

"Some Warlocks," Alec nodded. "Raphael from the Dumort Coven is a close friend of his too. They went to his club to have drinks."

"Now?"

"Yeah."

"Magnus is having a bachelor party then?"

"He said it was just drinks with close friends." Alec shrugged. "And that the past thousand years of his life have been a constant bachelor party, so he didn't need one now."

"You believe him?"

"About what?" Alec asked a little confused.

"That his whole life was a big continuous party?"

Alec snorted. "Of course not. I think he was just exaggerating. I didn't tell you, but before he got to the party some representatives from the Clave came to warn me that Magnus lived a life of debauchery and excesses, and that I should be prepared. I think that's all they think of him, so he plays the role."

"Deep analysis of someone you met four hours ago." Jace raised an eyebrow at him.

"You didn't see him with his friends, or with Max, or when we were alone. Trust me, he is not what people think."

Jace nodded. "Wasn’t he estimated to be four hundred, though?"

"Does it make a difference?"

Jace shook his head and then stared at Alec cocking his head and narrowing his eyes. "You know what? You should have a proper bachelor party."

"No, absolutely not!" Alec said automatically. There was no way he was going to leave the Institute to go somewhere full of people where he would have to pretend to be having fun, he never liked the kinds of places Jace and Izzy used to go for partying, much less the night before his wedding.

"Trust me?" Jace asked intently.

"Always," Alec declared without a moment of hesitation.

"Let's go then," he said already walking away, making Alec follow. "Go change into something comfortable and meet me back here."

"Comfortable?" Alec raised his eyebrows with a small smile.

Jace just rolled his eyes and left in the direction of the dining hall.

Of course Jace wouldn’t want to take him to a club or somewhere full of people, Jace knew him. Alec smiled to himself and walked to his bedroom in long strides. 

Most of his things were packed but he was going to leave behind most of his gear and work out clothes, he wouldn’t need it at Magnus’ place — his new place — their place. Looking at his duffle bag on the floor close to the door Alec felt a new bolt of anxiety, so he put on some joggers and a t-shirt and left the room to find Jace.

Alec found Jace back at the command center. He was also in comfortable clothes, and had a six-pack of beer with him. Alec was not used to drinking. In fact, he hadn’t had a drink the whole night. It was illegal for them to drink under Mundane law, but the Clave didn’t actually have a drinking age, so it was usual for their parents to allow them a glass of wine with dinner.

Alec had noticed Magnus drinking a lot during the party, but he didn’t even seemed buzzed when they parted, Izzy certainly had been drunker than him, and he was going to have even more drinks with his friends. He wondered for a second how much Magnus would have to drink to get drunk. Maybe centuries of experience made him develop a higher tolerance.

Jace indicated the back hallway with his head and started walking, Alec walked with him without question. He already knew where they were going. 

The roof of the Institute was strictly restricted to emergencies, but they had been going there whenever they had to think or to wind off since he could remember.

Jace stopped at the door and took his stele out of his pocket. Alec extended his arm so Jace could activate his glamour and then Alec did the same for him.

There were two foldable chairs hidden behind the control panel, they had left them there years ago, Alec grabbed them and placed them on their favorite spot, where they could watch the city but would be out of sight if anyone happened to come to the roof.

Jace gave Alec a bottle, they sat down and Jace clinked their bottles together. "To your last night as a single man." They drank. Alec didn’t like the taste of beer, it left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he drank it anyway.

"Tomorrow you’ll be living somewhere else," Jace said, looking down at his bottle.

Alec could feel some distress coming from Jace’s side of their bond. He had been reluctant about that part too. Alec was not sure how things would work with them living away from each other. 

Rationally he knew that there was no reason to fear. Their bond was strong and they wouldn’t let it get weak just because Alec wouldn’t be living at the Institute anymore. 

But it was a little more complicated than that. 

Alec remembered talking to his father about Jace’s father, he remembered Robert telling him that their bond had been so weakened from spending years apart that he didn’t even feel it when Michael died. That had always been Alec’s biggest fear.

"It won’t change anything," Alec stated firmly. "I’ll be here everyday. And I’ll still be living in New York, we won’t be too far away from each other."

"It’ll still be weird," Jace sighed. "We’ve never been apart, not since before the ceremony."

"We won’t be," Alec said, touching the Parabatai Rune on his rip. "Wherever I am, you are always there, right next to me."

Jace touched his Rune too, then nodded. Their bond was strong, they wouldn’t end up like their fathers, Alec wouldn’t let it happen.

They stayed in silence for a while both immerse in thought. Alec’s thoughts drifted from his bond with Jace to his marriage, making his fears and anxiety start to creep up on him again. He knew everything he could about the wedding ceremony and the reception, so he was prepared, he liked being prepared.

But no one had said anything about the wedding night. 

Alec had no idea of what was expected of him. He knew he was going back to Magnus’ place after the wedding but that was it. He knew nothing. And he hated not knowing.

He noticed the anxiety was starting to bleed to Jace through the bond when Jace started to kick the hill of his feet on the floor incessantly. But Alec couldn’t stop his mind from working through every scenario. 

What if he was terrible and Magnus sent him back to the Clave and demanded to annul the wedding? What if Magnus laughed at his lack of experience? He was centuries old, he had tons of experience, and Alec had never even kissed anyone properly. Oh damn, what if Alec didn’t even manage to kiss him the right way?

"Alec," Jace hissed. "What’s it?"

"Jace, I’m—" Alec took a shaky breath. "I don’t—"

Although Jace could feel his nerves through the bond, he had no way of knowing what brought them up, they shared their feelings and instincts, not their thoughts, and Alec had always been extremely grateful for that. Except now, that he would have to explain to Jace what was going through his mind.

"Say the word and we run," Jace declared, sitting up straight. "Just give me a minute so I can go grab Izzy. I promised her we would take her with us if you decided to run."

That managed to distract Alec from the turmoil in his head. 

"When did you promised that?" Alec asked, surprised to find out his siblings had planned something for the possibility of him changing his mind.

"Before we found out it was going to be Magnus," Jace shrugged. "Izzy was terrified you wouldn’t realise it was a mistake until it was too late, so we decided that if it came the time you wanted to run we’d go with you."

Alec was touched. He wouldn’t run, even if his worst nightmares about this arrangement had become true, even if Magnus was terrible, or if his mother hadn’t managed to get him a husband instead of a wife. He couldn’t run. He knew why he was doing this and he could never condemn his family to a runaway’s life. Still, it was good to know that Jace and Izzy had his back, no matter what, even while Izzy had been pissed off with him.

"And of course you wouldn’t run without me, so she made me promise I would find her and bring her with us, I sweared on the Angel," Jace added, nodding seriously.

"Well, I’m definitely not running, so you don’t have to worry about that," Alec said, smiling fondly at Jace.

"What’s it then?"

"I—" Alec sighed, blushing deeply. "I never had— hm—"

"Oh," Jace grimaced. "I’ve never had sex with a man either."

Alec wasn’t going to correct him and say he’d never had sex at all, so he just nodded. "I don’t know what I’m supposed to do," Alec confessed.

"Maybe just talk to him?" Jace said, looking uncomfortable but obviously doing his best to be supportive. "If he is a good guy he’s going to understand it and be patient with you and all that. And if he is a dick— Well, we can always kill him and hide the body somewhere no one is going to find him, and then you get to play the suffering widower."

Alec snorted and shook his head. It was good advice, even if it was given in the Jace way. 

The two of them spent a couple more hours on the roof, mostly silently, just drinking and watching the city lights.

"Jace."

"Hm."

"Did you remember to release Duncan from the bathroom?"

Jace frowned at his bottle for a couple of seconds, before answering; "Would it be too bad if I didn’t?"


	6. Chapter 6

Alec wished he could say he had a good night of sleep before the wedding, in reality as soon as he was alone in his room, his thoughts started going wild again.

He was so concerned about all the things he didn’t know and couldn’t prepare himself for, that he started over preparing for everything else. He had already read the plans for the ceremony and reception several times before, but he ended up reading it twice more during the night. Then, he took his tablet and started to rethink everything he had prepared for the two days he would be away from the Institute. When he couldn’t find anything else to worry about in the running of the Institute during his absence, he went through his closet making sure he wasn’t forgetting anything he wanted to take with him to Magnus’ home. And then he went through his duffle bag, making sure everything was inside. 

When he finally managed to close his eyes and sleep, the sun was high on the sky. And too soon someone was knocking on his door.

Alec opened his eyes and groaned as he checked the clock on his bedside table. He had slept for two hours.

The door was opened by a smiling Izzy. "You look terrible," she declared, walking into his room without being invited.

"Thank you," Alec grunted, covering his face with his pillow.

"We’ll have to do something about your face," Izzy said, throwing herself beside him. "Magnus' makeup was on point yesterday, and he is so fashionable," she sighed dramatically. "You’ll scare him away if you show up for the wedding looking like a forsaken."

"You are really good for the ego, aren’t you?" He deadpanned.

"Just telling it the way I see it," she snickered, poking his ribs with a finger. "Mom asked me to wake you up. She says you have to make sure everything is in order with the Institute before we go to Alicante."

"Already did it," Alec yawned.

"Good, because I’ll need all the time you would've spent checking everything to fix your face."

Alec grunted again, just for effect, and stood up, pulling Izzy with him. He took a quick shower while she waited, then they left his room for him to do a quick once over on the command center before getting ready for the wedding.

"Where is mom?" He asked, looking around as they entered the command center.

"Organizing the dining hall for the reception."

"Dad?"

"Already in Alicante, he said he had to make sure everything was in order there." Izzy shrugged.

"And Jace?"

"Sleeping."

Alec rolled his eyes. "How come he can sleep in and I have to do a hundred things?"

"You are the groom?" Izzy smirked.

"He is my suggenes and my _ parabatai_, he was supposed to make my job easier, not sleep while I do everything," he said distractedly, checking a couple of the monitors for unusual activity and finding nothing out of the ordinary.

"Are you finished?" She asked, crossing her arms and stomping her foot rhythmically. 

"Yeah," Alec said, smiling at her fondly.

"Good, we don’t have much time," Izzy stated, grabbing his arm and dragging Alec to her room.

Izzy sat him on her bed and spread her makeup beside him, looking for something.

"Do I really need this?" He grimaced looking down at all the tubes and pencils and weirdly shaped devices.

"I’ll just use some concealer," she said putting a flask close to his face and comparing the colors. "Had trouble sleeping?"

Alec nodded and closed his eyes, it was no use lying to Izzy, she knew him better than anyone in the world.

"I think you were right," she declared, starting to rub something on his face. "I think this could work out for you, that you could be happy with Magnus."

"How can you know?"

"I just have this feeling that he is right for you." She squeezed his shoulder, without stopping applying things to his face. "Yesterday I saw him looking at you like he wanted this to work. And he was so kind to Max. And the way he talked about Catarina. I don’t know. I just have this feeling that this is good."

"So you won’t help me run away if I ask you to?" Alec smirked.

"Oh, I would," Izzy giggled. "But I know you won’t."

She finished putting makeup on him, and he had to admit, if he didn’t know she had spent the past half-hour spreading things on his face, he wouldn’t notice it. It was very discreet, the only difference was that he no longer looked like he was about to pass out.

Their mother showed up when Izzy was about to do Alec’s hair and gave the two of them a plate of sandwiches. The dining hall was ready for their small reception, and Maryse didn’t want anyone in there ruining her work.

After they ate, Izzy started spreading products on his hair, styling it to the side. Then she sent him away so she could get ready too. They had to be in Alicante in less than two hours, when it would be dark enough there for the Vampires to go to the wedding.

Alec got back to his room, put on his golden tuxedo, and activated his Stamina Rune, it wouldn’t do to have the groom passing out from exhaustion in the middle of the reception.

He looked himself on the mirror and took a deep breath. That was it. He was going to marry a gorgeous Warlock that he barely knew in a couple of hours. The Shadow World would finally have a peace agreement and new laws to guarantee equality. All thanks to him. He could do this.

His family was waiting for him in front of the portal to Alicante. Maryse was beautiful in a dark blue dress, Izzy was stunning as always in a dark red dress, Jace’s suit matched Alec’s tux, but in a lighter tone of gold, and even Max was perfect in a black suit and golden tie. No one would be able to accuse them of not taking this seriously.

"Ready?" Maryse asked, looking into his eyes intensely.

"Yeah," he breathed out, and they walked through the portal.

They appeared right outside the Accords hall, where all the guests were portalling in. Maryse guided them to the side of the entrance, where Alec and Jace were supposed to wait for the music to start and then walk down the aisle.

Izzy squeezed his arm with a small smile, and took Max inside. Before following them, his mother hugged him tightly. "I’m very proud of you," she murmured in his ear.

Alec was nervous, but unlike the day before, he was also a little excited. He was getting something he had never thought would be possible. He was going to marry a man, not long ago that would be a crime punishable with deruning, yet his marriage would not only be recognized by the Clave, but celebrated. His new life started today, and it may have happened in an unconventional way, but he was convinced this marriage could work. He could be happy. He would be.

From where they were they couldn’t see inside but everyone going in passed in front of them. Allowing Alec to see all sorts of Warlock marks in the time they waited. All colors of skin, horns, wings, gills, scales. They usually only saw Warlocks with glamours on, but tonight they were all showing their marks proudly. He was almost sure they were doing it on purpose.

The moment the music started, Jace patted his back as Alec took a deep breath. He was ready for it. He nodded to Jace, and they walked down the aisle side by side.

Raphael was on the front row, on the seats reserved for Magnus’ family, and so was Tessa. Ragnor was at the altar beside a Silent Brother. Unlike the night before Ragnor’s skin was light green. Alec nodded at them respectfully and took his place at the altar, before turning to the entrance with butterflies of expectation in his stomach.

Catarina appeared first, her skin was light blue and her hair white, she was in a beautiful shimmering midnight blue dress, and the contrast between her skin and the dress was striking.

And then Alec saw Magnus and everyone else disappeared.

Magnus’ hair was styled up with blue highlights, his tuxedo was royal blue with thin golden trimming that sparkled as he walked. He was wearing multiple rings and his makeup was a mix blue and gold around the eyes. But more than anything else, his smile was stunning. Alec had never seen someone as gorgeous.

For a second he forgot where he was, what he was about to do, he even forgot how to breathe, everything. He only had eyes for Magnus.

"Hi," he breathed out as Magnus reached the altar.

"Hi," Magnus chuckled, and they stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments, without thinking about where they were and what they were doing.

Ragnor cleared his throat behind them, breaking Alec out of his trance. He couldn’t stop the blush that spread through his cheeks and neck as he turned to Ragnor and Brother Enoch. He only hoped no one could see it under all the makeup Izzy had put on him.

Brother Enoch’s voice sounded inside theirs minds, telling them that the ceremony had began.

Jace gave Alec the golden brooch that would bare the Wedded Union Rune, and Alec pinned it on Magnus’ tux. They exchanged a small smile, and then Brother Enoch drew the Wedded Union Rune on the air in front of them, his voice reverberating in Alec’s mind again; 

_ Mark your partner with the Wedded Union Rune. _

Alec repeated aloud the words that reverberated inside his mind; "With this Rune I mark you as my partner and my equal to cherish and to keep, by the will of the Angel." Alec’s hand was shaking a little, but after a deep breath he managed to draw the Rune on the brooch.

Magnus repeated the same words while Alec marked his own wrist.

_ By your hands and the will of the Angel you are united. _

Then Brother Enoch stepped aside, and Ragnor took his place.

"Warlocks and Shadowhunters, Vampires, Werewolves and Seelies, we are gathered here today not only to unite our people, but to unite these two men in magic and life," he said to the audience, then focused on Magnus and Alec. "Please, take each other’s hands so the bonding spell can be performed."

Magnus smiled brightly at Alec as they caught each others hands. "Okay?" He whispered so only Alec could hear, and Alec nodded.

"Alexander Lightwood, do you take Magnus Bane as your partner willingly?" Ragnor asked.

"I do."

"Magnus Bane, do you take Alexander Lightwood as your partner willingly?"

"I do," Magnus said firmly, looking into Alec’s eyes.

"With your consent, by magic and by life, I bind you together," Ragnor declared and started chanting in a language Alec didn’t recognize, extending his hands above his head, his palms to Alec and Magnus, and warm yellow magic started to leave his hands, wrapping around them.

Alec heard a low murmur coming from the audience, then he noticed with awe that colorful wisps of magic were coming from there, wrapping around them and mixing with the yellow. From the corner of his eye, he saw Catarina mouthing the incantation with Ragnor, and her own wisp of pale blue magic joining the others.

No one had said anything about the other Warlocks contributing to the spell, but Alec had a warm feeling about it, like they were approving their union. He looked back into Magnus’ eyes and for only a second he saw them shining golden-green with slit pupils, Alec gasped, Magnus’ eyes were stunning, everything about Magnus was stunning.

Then the warm magic surrounding them got brighter, forcing Alec to close his eyes. When he opened them again, the magic had already vanished, and Magnus’ eyes were back to the chocolate brown color of his glamour.

"You can now kiss each other to seal the bonding spell and your union."

Magnus took a step forward, his hand still holding Alec’s, and tilted his head up a little. Alec was the one to close the gap between them this time around. 

A sparkle of magic surprised Alec when his lips touched Magnus’, but he didn’t step away, getting closer to Magnus instead. A shiver ran down his body. This kiss was warmer and firmer than the one before. Alec parted his lips slightly under Magnus’, and felt as he caught Alec’s lip between his. 

After a few seconds, probably more than it would be considered appropriate, Magnus stepped back, observing Alec attently. Alec’s legs trembled a little, and he felt dizzy, but he was not entirely sure it was only the spell making him unsteady, he believed it had to be a combination of everything that had just happened.

That was it. They were married now. 

Magnus’ hand was still warm on his, and Alec didn’t want to let it go, not now, not for a long time. Magnus was his husband. He felt a jolt of pure joy go through him. That was the first moment of their marriage and he would cherish the memory of Magnus’ smile and his warm hand on Alec’s for the rest of his life.

They turned to the audience and Alec saw people standing and clapping, but he couldn’t really hear them over the ringing on his ears. Magnus squeezed his hand and Alec looked back at him.

"Okay?" He mouthed.

"A little dizzy," Alec whispered.

"I’ve got you," Magnus murmured, firming his grip on Alec’s hand as they walked down the aisle to the open space behind the audience where they would receive the greetings from the guests.

The first to reach them was Jia Penhallow, the new Consul. She congratulated them, shaking their hands with a polite smile on her lips, then gave way to the other members of the Council. Inquisitor Herondale was next, she gave Alec a small nod as they shook hands, and he considered it her way of showing approval. And although some of the members of the Council had a harder time appearing happy than others, Magnus completely ignored the poorly concealed grimaces, so Alec didn’t acknowledge them either.

After the Council members, the Downworlders started to approach them. Most of the Warlocks shook Alec’s hand with enthusiasm, making Alec feel accepted.

When it was finally time for their family and friends, Alec was already fed up with all the handshakes and pleasantries.

"Finally," Jace laughed when he reached them. "Jace Wayland," he stated, shaking Magnus’ hand firmly. "I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you yesterday."

"It’s nice to meet you," Magnus said politely, but Alec noticed he was looking at Jace weirdly. He didn’t have time to comment, however, because Jace was already being pushed away by Izzy and Max.

"Welcome to the family," Izzy said, hugging Magnus enthusiastically.

"Thank you, my dear," Magnus said, exchanging a surprised look with Alec, but he smiled at Izzy brightly, before accepting a hug from Max.

Alec’s parents were next in line, Robert shook hands with Magnus politely, and Maryse gave him a tentative smile while they shook hands. It was all very proper and distant, reminding Alec of the way the more agreeable Council members had greeted them, and not much like family, but Magnus didn’t seem to mind.

Ragnor came by right after them, looking proud.

"It was a beautiful ceremony, if I do say so myself." 

"It was," Alec agreed, shaking his hand. "I didn’t expect the other Warlocks to participate."

"It’s customary for other Warlocks to send a little bit of magic to the bond when they have good wishes for the couple," Catarina explained as she hugged first Magnus and then Alec.

"We were not sure it would happen due the circumstances, but I’m happy they did," Magnus said brightly.

After Tessa and Raphael offered their congratulations, Magnus and Raphael were called by Jia to sign the Alliance, and Alec stayed behind with Ragnor, Catarina, Tessa and his family. 

His parents seemed to already know Ragnor, they greeted him politely and although there was some tension there, Alec didn’t think it was as bad as with Magnus the night before.

"I used to teach at the Academy," Ragnor told Alec conversationally, looking at the building across from the Accords hall. "Until it was closed due to the Uprising, of course."

That explained how he knew Alec’s parents, and also why Alec’s parents were keeping a slight distance from the rest of them.

It couldn’t be easy to look their former professor in the face after everything they did.

"I wonder if they will reopen the Academy now that the Alliance is signed," Tessa replied.

"I hope they do," Alec said, and both Izzy and Jace nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "It would be easier to teach the young Shadowhunters about Downworlders if they reopened the academy. I know it didn’t work that way in the past, but now with the Alliance I think it could."

Ragnor nodded noncommittally.

It didn’t take long for Magnus and Raphael to come back. Magnus took back Alec’s hand as soon as he was close enough, and opened a portal to New York with his free hand.

The dining hall was nicely decorated, like the night before the long tables were gone giving place to small round tables covered in blue tablecloths and little candles floating in bows with water. There were flower arrangements around the double doors and along the walls. It was not much, but Alec knew Maryse had put a lot of care into it.

Other than Alec’s family and Magnus’ close friends, there were some Vampires from Raphael’s Coven, a couple of Werewolves and Seelies, and some of the younger Shadowhunters that had been at the ceremony.

Magnus picked up a couple of drinks and gave one to Alec, before clinking them together. "To us," he toasted as they drank.

The drink was a little too strong for Alec and he couldn’t stop himself from grimacing, making Magnus chuckle a little.

Magnus kept his hold on Alec’s hand the whole time while they talked to the guests and had dinner. Alec was happy for it, he didn’t want to let go either. After dinner, people started dancing on the opening in the middle of the room and Magnus gently pushed Alec away from their table to the edge of the dance floor. He was about to say something, when Aline Penhallow appeared in front of them.

"Oh Alec," she said, grinning widely. "This makes me so happy." She hugged Alec tightly and then shook hands with Magnus.

"It does?" Alec questioned her through narrowed eyes. It didn’t quite make sense in his mind for her to be that happy about their marriage. Somehow he didn’t imagine the political aspect would excite her this much, and although they were friends, they were not close enough for her to be this happy for him.

"Of course," Aline said emphatically. "With your marriage the Clave will have to be more accepting of all kinds of relationships. It would be extremely hypocritical for them to deny anyone the right to get married to the person they love, or deruning people for loving who they love."

"Oh."

Alec supposed she was right. After sanctioning a marriage between two men, a Downworlder and a Shadowhunter, the Clave wouldn’t be able to deny anyone who wished for the same thing. Maybe in the future little boys like Alec wouldn’t live in fear of being forced to marry people they wouldn’t ever love and keep pretences for the sake of their sacred duties. Alec felt something warm on his chest. He did this.

Magnus snorted, looking highly amused.

"And the Alliance with the Downworlders, of course," Aline added quickly with widening eyes. "That is obviously the most important. Everything else is a consequence."

"I liked you better when you were just happy with the advancement of gay rights for Shadowhunters," Magnus chuckled.

"Oh well," Aline shrugged, and Alec couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

After Aline left them alone, Alec commented; "Back when we were younger I was pretty sure I would have to marry her someday."

"I’m guessing you’d both be repealed by the idea in the same way," Magnus said quietly.

Alec observed Aline for a few moments. She really looked happy, more than he would think it was possible, much more than a simple observer would be, she looked free and hopeful. 

Magnus was probably right, Aline wouldn’t want to marry a man any more than Alec would want to marry a woman. Alec smiled softly, still looking at her, if nothing else at least his marriage would bring hope for people like them.

He turned to Magnus to tell him just that, but Magnus was looking away from Alec, his narrowed eyes were focused on Jace’s back on the other side of the room.

Alec was about to ask if there was anything wrong, when Magnus looked back at him and smiled brightly, making Alec forget what he was thinking.

"Are you wearing makeup?" Magnus asked, staring at Alec’s left ear.

"How can you tell?" Alec widened his eyes self consciously.

"Your ears are a slightly lighter shade than the rest of your face," Magnus chuckled. "Don’t worry, it’s not very noticeable."

"Izzy said you would run away if I showed up at our wedding looking like a forsaken," Alec confessed embarrassed.

"I highly doubt that," Magnus smirked and winked at Alec. "But tell me, why did you look like a forsaken? Up late partying?"

"I just— hm— Couldn’t sleep," Alec admitted.

Magnus tilted his head and looked at him for a moment, before softening his smile. "Cold feet?"

"Just a little nervous."

"I heard it’s normal to get a little nervous before getting married, I think we are good," Magnus nodded kindly.

"You never got married before?" Alec asked, frowning. Magnus was at least four hundred years old, maybe more, it was not possible that Alec was the first to marry him.

"Never found the right person," Magnus shrugged. "Got close a couple of times, but it didn’t happen."

"So you decided to get into an arranged political marriage with a Shadowhunter?" Alec questioned in disbelief.

"I figured if I never found the right person I could allow fate to take a pick. So far, I have nothing to complain of it," Magnus said, squeezing Alec’s hand lightly.

Alec squeezed his hand back. He wouldn’t say it, but he was glad Magnus decided to give a chance to fate.

"Would you dance with me a little?" Magnus asked, tilting his head to look at Alec.

"I don’t know how to dance."

"I’ll lead you," Magnus said, pushing Alec by the hand to the middle of the room where some people were slow dancing.

"Don’t complain if I step on your feet," Alec murmured seriously, when Magnus pushed their bodys close together.

"I won’t," Magnus said solemnly.

Alec closed his eyes and just allowed Magnus to guide his body in the right direction. He was afraid that dancing with Magnus would be awkward, but their bodies seemed to fit together, and Magnus’ head on Alec’s shoulder felt comfortable. He wished for a second that the moment could go on forever. He didn’t even like dancing, but he felt light and free with Magnus swaying him from one side to the other.

He got a little disappointed when Magnus pulled away from him some time later, but didn’t say anything, they were married now, they would have plenty of opportunity to slow dance in the future. Maybe Alec could actually learn it. And even though Alec was sure he stepped on Magnus’ feet at least twice, Magnus never said anything.

Alec sipped on the drink Magnus had just handed him and observed Magnus as he looked at the people dancing distractedly. Alec thought he looked content, maybe even happy with their wedding. He hoped they would get to really know each other and be happy together one day.

Suddenly Magnus frowned, and Alec followed his line of sight out of curiosity, when he saw that Magnus was staring at Jace he remembered that he had caught Magnus doing the same earlier. He didn’t know what could be bothering Magnus, and he didn’t know why the way Magnus was looking at Jace was bothering him, he wasn’t jealous, Magnus was not looking at Jace in an admiring way, it was more like Jace was frustrating him somehow. 

Alec was about to ask, when Izzy and Catarina showed up in front of them.

Izzy was wobbling on her feet, and Alec got the impression that she was using Catarina for support. Catarina was biting her lower lip, looking amused.

"Hey, Alec, do you think the Clave would allow me to take some forensic courses at the University?" Izzy asked excitedly.

"I’m not sure I understand why you’d want that," Alec said, looking at her through narrowed eyes. "The mundanes at the University don’t know anything about Angel and Demon blood," he pointed out without really answering.

"Yeah, but if I learn the concepts and techniques I can always apply them to our reality," she said gesturing with her hands emphatically. "Catarina told me that she takes classes from time to time to stay up to date in modern medicine and has multiple degrees."

"How would you get into College though, don’t you have to have a school degree for it, and take tests?"

"Or you can have a Warlock brother-in-law," Magnus said, wiggling his fingers and making a little wisp of blue magic run through them.

"Oh," Alec looked at Magnus fingers for a few moments, distracted by the way the magic flowed through them. "In that case I can make a request, but I’m not sure they would approve it. They will probably tell me to send you to Alicante for an apprenticeship with their lab techs."

"I can do that too," Izzy said, with a dismissive hand wave. "Tell them that we need to keep up with Mundane technology so that we can advance our methods and become more efficient. The Clave loves when we want to be more efficient. And I don’t even need to take four years, I don’t need to graduate, it’s not like I’ll go after a Mundane job or anything, I just need to learn and—"

"Can we discuss this on Monday?" Alec interrupted, looking around pointedly.

"Oh, yeah," Izzy blushed a little. "Of course, sorry."

Izzy smiled at Magnus and went back to the dance floor.

"She’s a very bright young woman," Catarina commented, looking at Izzy’s retreating back. "Very interested in learning."

"Yeah," Alec smiled proudly. "She is the smartest one of us."

"She was questioning me about how I came to work as a nurse," Catarina said, smiling back at him. "I think going to College could do her a lot of good."

"I just worry a bit about her making friends with Mundanes," Alec said, frowning a little.

"Why is that?" Magnus questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"It can be dangerous for the Mundanes when they get mixed up with us," Alec shrugged.

"That is true, but she can always be friendly with them without revealing the Shadow World," Catarina pointed out. "I’m friends with doctors and nurses at the hospital, they have no idea I’m a Warlock."

"I guess," Alec bit his lip, still looking at Izzy as she danced with a Seelie Knight. "I’m sorry," he shook his head, looking back to Magnus and Catarina. "I guess I’m just overly concerned with her sometimes."

"You are a good big brother," Magnus said with a kind smile. "I can see it in your eyes when you look at them."

Alec smiled back, blushing a little.

Catarina spent a little while chatting with them. Alec liked her, she was funny and sarcastic, but still caring. She obviously loved Magnus a lot, and he obviously loved her. It reminded Alec of Izzy and him.

When Alec caught Magnus looking at Jace through narrowed eyes for the third time, a while later, he finally got to ask; "What is it?"

"I’m not sure," Magnus said, playing with his ear cuff, observing Jace attentively. "He reminds me of someone, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s driving me crazy."

"Maybe you knew his father?" Alec asked, following Magnus line of sight to where Jace was talking with Ragnor.

"He said Wayland, right?" Magnus asked, looking away from Jace and focusing back on Alec. "I met Michael Wayland very briefly, back when I first met your parents, I don’t think that’s it."

"Another ancestor?"

"Maybe," Magnus bit his lower lip, and shook his head. "I’m sorry, never mind that, we are supposed to be celebrating our wedding."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey people! I'm so happy with all your kudos and supportive comments! I had never written Malec before and all of you are so nice!! Thank you so much!  
I wanted to let you all know that I finished writing the fic and will be posting every 3 days until we get to the end. I've been thinking about other fics and even a sequel for this one starting from when Clary enters their lives, and because of all your kindness I am actually excited to write all my ideas!!! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of it.  
I hope all of you keep enjoying it until the end (and maybe beyond the end too).  
Once again, thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

The reception went on for a couple more hours. Izzy made Alec dance with her once, but after he stepped on her feet twice, she decided to dance with Magnus instead, and they enjoyed it far more than Alec could. Max asked Magnus to show him more magic, and laughed loudly everytime Magnus made something weird appear out of nowhere. Even Maryse stopped to chat with them and did her best to show support.

When most of the guests had left and it was time for them to leave too, Izzy grabbed Alec fiercely and pulled him into a hug.

"I’m going to miss you so much," she murmured into his chest.

"I’ll be here on monday," Alec chuckled, but hugged her just as hard as she was hugging him.

"But you won’t be living here anymore," Izzy murmured sorrowfully. "Who is going to help me sneak back in after a party?"

"Jace?"

"He usually needs you to sneak him back in too. We’ll both end up being caught every time we go out," she giggled tearfully, shaking her head.

"Good thing I’m the Head of the Institute then," Alec smiled down at her, pushing her away from him so he could look into her eyes. "As long as the two of you are not doing anything stupid I won’t punish you for going out."

"You are the best brother ever, and the best Head of the Institute," Izzy grinned and kissed his cheek.

Her eyes were shining with tears and Alec felt a lump on his throat. Rationally, he knew things wouldn’t change much. He would be at the Institute everyday, they would see each other almost as much as they always had. But it still felt like they were saying good-bye.

"Take care, okay?" He murmured, patting her head.

"I will, big brother." She smiled and let him go.

Jace hugged him next, just as intensely as Izzy.

"It’s going to be okay," Jace whispered on his ear. "I felt it during the ceremony, you were happy, it was really good."

"Take care of Izzy and Max for me," Alec whispered back.

"Always," Jace murmured. "Call me if he turns out to be a dick."

"He won’t," Alec said firmly. He just knew it.

He said a quick good-bye to his parents, unlike with Izzy and Jace he was used to being away from them from time to time, and then caught Magnus’ hand and walked with him through the portal to his new home.

Magnus’ living room was a big open space with modern looking furniture mixed with antique vases, sculptures, paintings and other objects that looked like they belonged in museums. One of the walls was covered with bookcases with hundreds of leather bound books and on the other side there was a huge flat screen tv above a fireplace. Alec’s favorite part was the clear glass doors opening to a balcony that overviewed the Brooklyn Bridge.

He turned to look at Magnus and shivered. Magnus was standing a few feet away from him, playing with his ear cuff and watching Alec attentively as he looked around the living room. 

Alec didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Now that they were alone all his insecurities were coming back with full force. He knew that traditionally they were supposed to consummate their marriage, but he didn’t feel like he was ready for it. He had never even kissed anyone properly.

Magnus smiled at him softly and took a few steps forward, getting closer and placing his hand on Alec’s forearm. Before Alec could stop himself his hands were rubbing each other nervously. "I don’t— I’ve never—" he stuttered.

Magnus frowned, taking his hand away and tilting his head to the side, concern clear in his eyes. "Did I do something wrong, Alexander?"

"No, It’s— I— I’ve never been with anyone before," Alec stammered. "I don’t know what to do. I’m not—"

"Alexander, it’s okay, we kissed twice, I don’t expect us to jump into bed immediately," Magnus said, extending his hand to touch Alec’s arm again, but stopping before reaching him, as if waiting for permission.

Alec took a step forward, placing his biceps on Magnus’ hand. He didn’t know what to do, but he didn’t want Magnus to think he didn’t want to be touched by him. Alec wanted. That was not the problem. Alec wanted to kiss Magnus, and to touch him, and learn everything there was to learn about Magnus, but he wasn’t ready for sex, not when they barely knew each other.

"I know you must have heard a lot about me, but I promise; we can take our time, get to know each other, I won’t ask anything from you unless we are both comfortable with it," Magnus declared, looking at his hand on Alec’s arm.

"But we are supposed to— To consummate— The Alliance—" Alec stuttered.

"We already did more than enough for the Alliance," Magnus stated, squeezing Alec’s arm gently. "We were supposed to get married and we did it. They don’t have a say on what we do inside our home. Okay?"

Alec took a deep breath and nodded. Of course they couldn’t force him to have sex with Magnus, he knew that. It was just a little hard for him to shut down the part of his brain that kept saying that he was not doing this the right way.

Magnus looked at Alec with his head tilted to the side for a few more moments, then smiled brightly. "We should date!"

"But we are already married."

"And who says married people can’t date? This whole relationship started backwards, let’s pace ourselves now that our obligations were fulfilled, we have all the time in the world."

Magnus' smile was bright and Alec thought it must be the most beautiful thing in the world. Magnus always seemed to know what to say and what to do to put Alec at ease. He had been right when he told Jace he knew Magnus wouldn’t be a dick.

"Okay," Alec murmured, a small smile tugging the corners of his lips.

"So, where do you want to go tomorrow for our first date-honeymoon?" Magnus asked, sitting on the couch and gesturing for Alec to sit with him.

"Honeymoon?" Alec smiled, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"It was my understanding that you don’t have to report back at the Institute until Monday?" Magnus raised an eyebrow and Alec nodded. "Honeymoon." Magnus grinned. "Where do you want to go? The world is your oyster, Alexander."

"I don’t know, I’ve never been anywhere other than Idris." Alec shrugged.

"Lucky for you I’ve been everywhere," Magnus said, making a circular motion with both of his hands. "Give me a place and we’ll be there in fourteen seconds tops. Except Peru that is."

"Why not Peru?"

"I was banned from Peru a little while ago," Magnus told him dismissively.

"You were banned from a whole country?" Alec asked baffled, he had no idea what Magnus could possibly have done to be banned from a country.

"Yeah, but it’s a big story and this is not the time. Now we are discussing our honeymoon-first date combo and you have to pick somewhere for us to go."

Alec chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "I really don’t know, you pick."

Magnus stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then nodded. "I’ll pick it this time, but the next one is on you."

"Okay," Alec smiled lopsided. "Where are we going then?"

"It’s a surprise." Magnus grinned, standing up from the couch. "I prepared the guest bedroom for you, I was not sure if you’d be comfortable sharing a bed for now." Magnus said, making it sound like a question.

"I—" Alec hesitated. He knew he was not ready for sex, but maybe they could share a bed and not have sex? They were married, sharing a bed sounded right. And he wanted to be close to Magnus, to really get to know him. "Is it okay if I sleep with you but we don’t—"

"Of course it is," Magnus smiled kindly. "I won’t jump you in the middle of the night," he said, making a mock jump motion and chuckling. "Whatever you feel comfortable with is okay for me."

"I would like that, then," Alec swallowed dry. "I never really shared a bed with anyone other than my siblings though."

"Don’t worry about it too much, if you feel uncomfortable in any way you can always go to the guest room."

Alec nodded. He was still nervous, but there was a bit of excitement mixed with it as Magnus opened the double doors to the bedroom.

There was a huge four posters bed in the middle of the room, it was covered in silky red sheets that looked comfortable. Alec couldn’t contain a yawn, his Stamina Rune had worn off a couple hours ago, and his body was starting to protest the lack of sleeping. His duffle bag was on the ottoman at the foot of the bed waiting for him, Magnus had send it ahead while he said his goodbyes to Izzy and Jace.

Magnus was already on the other side of the room, moving things around on his vanity table. "Are you going to bring the rest of it later?" He asked, gesturing to the bag distractedly.

"The rest of what?"

"Your clothes?"

"No, I left my gear and most of my work out clothes at the Institute," Alec stated. "I don’t need them here."

"What about everything else?" Magnus asked, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"That’s everything else." Alec pointed at the duffle bag.

"That won’t do," Magnus said, shaking his head slowly. "We’ll have to go shopping."

Alec grimaced. He hated shopping. His mother and Izzy usually bought all his clothes for him, and he didn’t even use most of them, he didn't think he needed more clothes. "Do we really have to?"

Magnus cocked his head to the side observing Alec attentively. "You don’t like shopping, do you?"

"I hate it," Alec admitted reluctantly, biting the inside of his mouth. He felt like he was already disappointing Magnus and they hadn’t even been married for half a day.

"Would it be alright for me to buy things for you?" Magnus asked, making a questioning gesture with his hands.

"If you want to," Alec shrugged. He would rather have Magnus doing that than having to go out and buy clothes for himself.

"Okay then." Magnus grinned. "We can figure this out later," he added with a dismissive hand wave.

Magnus showed him how to properly clean the makeup from his face, then disappeared inside his closet.

Alec was starting to doubt sharing a bed with Magnus would be a good idea. He was too nervous. He had no idea what he should do. He didn’t know if he should just change his clothes and lay down while Magnus was not there, or if he was supposed to wait for Magnus to come back. 

He should probably shower. But then he would have to ask Magnus for a towel, so he had to wait for Magnus to come back, but he felt stupid standing in his golden tux in the middle of the bedroom.

Alec took a deep breath and opened his bag. He knew he was over thinking things again. It was not as hard as his mind made it seen. He could do this. He took a t-shirt and joggers from his bag and waited for Magnus seated on the ottoman.

"I got you a towel if you want to shower, and I opened a space for you in the closet," Magnus said, walking back into the room in a silk black robe.

Alec smiled and nodded, feeling relieved. It was like Magnus could read his mind.

The shower helped Alec calm down a little more. He couldn’t quite identify the scent of the shampoo he used, but it had a woody soothing smell, it was the same smell he remembered feeling in Magnus the first time they kissed. Alec liked it a lot. When he got back to the bedroom Magnus was sitting on the bed waiting for him.

Somehow he looked younger without makeup, like he could be Alec’s age instead of an ageless all-powerful Warlock.

"Do you have a side of the bed that you prefer?"

Alec shook his head slowly. This was really happening. He was about to lay down to sleep with a man, his husband, for the first time for the rest of his life. Even in his most hopeful dreams from before the arrangement he never imagined this would be possible.

Magnus nodded and got himself under the comforter on the right side of the bed. Alec adjusted his pillow and laid down on the left, then turned to look at Magnus as he waved his hands to turn off the lights. Magnus looked different now, and it wasn’t just the lack of makeup, he was biting his lips a little and watching Alec attentively.

"You must be tired," Magnus murmured.

Alec nodded. Now that he was in bed he could feel how much the lack of sleep the night before and everything he had done during the day had exhausted him, but he didn’t believe he would be able to shut down his mind with Magnus right there, barely an arm away from him.

And then Magnus started to talk. They talked about their wedding, and about some of the Council members and how they couldn’t hide well enough how they were not happy with what was happening.

Then Alec told him about the Shadowhunters that had required transfer from New York, not because he was marrying a Downworlder, but because he was marrying a man, but he also told Magnus about all the people that had requested to come to New York to work with Alec, because they wanted change and progress.

Talking to Magnus was easy, Alec felt safe to tell him whatever was on his mind. And the bed was so comfortable, he had never imagined that silk sheets would feel so good.

Before Alec noticed, he was asleep.

* * *

Alec was warm and comfortable when awareness started to come back to him, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was and why, but as he remembered, he started to notice other things around him. Warm puffs of air reached his neck at regular intervals, and something warm and soft was pressed to his right side. Alec opened his eyes slowly to find Magnus right there, his sleeping face inches away from Alec’s.

They must have moved closer to each other during the night. Alec was surprised he hadn’t woken up. He was not used to sharing a bed, and he was usually a light sleeper, he had to be for his job, he could be needed at all hours of the night, so he had been trained to always be prepared to fight at a moments notice.

Alec felt movement to his left side and sat up quickly, dislodging Magnus, who grunted.

There was something in the room with them.

In no more than a second he had a dagger on one hand and the other he used to hold Magnus in place.

"What’s going on?" Magnus mumbled, sounding sleepy and confused.

Alec didn’t answer, his eyes running from one side to the other, surveying the room, trying to find what had been moving a moment before.

He caught a flash of grey running in Magnus' direction and turned, raising his dagger, ready to attack whatever it was. 

Just to find a small grey tabby cat jumping on Magnus’ stomach.

Alec exhaled deeply, releasing the tension that had built up on his muscles as he prepared himself for a fight. "You must be Chairman," he said softly, putting his dagger down and extending a hand to pet the cat.

"Where did you even get that?" Magnus asked staring at the dagger with wide eyes. "Did you come to bed armed? Did you think I was going to attack you on your sleep or something?" Magnus huffed, obviously irritated.

In a way, Alec could understand why Magnus would be angry at him for bringing a dagger to bed. Shadowhunters and Downworlders had been in the brink of war for years and the whole reason they got married was to prove that Shadowhunters saw them as equals. Alec bringing a dagger to bed probably made Magnus think Alec didn’t trust him, or that Alec thought he was going to fall into his demonic urges and attack Alec on his sleep or something like that. Which was something that other Shadowhunters had been saying for centuries. It did sound really bad from Magnus’ point of view.

"I always have at least a dagger with me at all times," Alec tried to explain. "Even at the Institute I sleep with a dagger under the pillow."

"So you always sleep with a weapon?" Magnus frowned, petting the cat distractedly. Alec nodded. "Did you have a weapon during our wedding?"

"Of course." Alec shrugged. "All Shadowhunters are always armed at all times. We are trained to always be prepared."

"Isn’t that a little paranoic?" Magnus asked, failing to suppress a yawn.

"Maybe," Alec conceded. "But we are not like you, your magic is always there to protect you, we only have our training and weapons."

Magnus nodded, yawning again. "This is Chairman Meow," Magnus said, petting the little cat. "And you only need to worry about being attacked in here if I tell you to worry. My wards are pretty strong, especially when I’m inside."

Alec nodded his understanding. He should have known that. He knew that the Institute payed Warlocks to reinforce the wards from time to time. It was obvious that a High Warlock would have all kinds of wards around his place.

"Since we are awake," Magnus stretched and sat up. "We should have breakfast before our honeymoon-first date combo."

Alec’s first impulse as they got out of bed was to call Jace and make sure that everything was running smoothly at the Institute, but he didn’t. He trusted Jace to call him if they needed anything, and his parents had been Heads of the Institute for the past sixteen years, they were right there to help Jace if anything happened. He didn’t need to worry about it today, so he pushed it away from his mind.

Magnus disappeared inside the closed and Alec took it as an opportunity to change into some of his best clothes. He chose dark jeans and the dark green button up shirt that Izzy said complemented his eyes nicely. When Magnus got back to the room he was also ready to go out, in black tight pants, a burgundy blouse and a black vest with the brooch Alec had marked with the Wedded Union Rune.

Seeing the brooch prominently displayed on Magnus’ outfit made Alec smile. It wasn’t like seeing it on his own hand, but it felt good all the same.

"How do you take your coffee?" Magnus asked as Alec followed him to the living room.

"Black?" Alec said hesitantly.

Magnus tilted his head to the side and looked at Alec for a second, before snapping his fingers. Two styrofoam cups with a coffee shop logo appeared on the dining table along with a plate of french toast and a jar of jam.

"Are these— Where did these come from?" Alec asked, staring at the cups through narrowed eyes.

"There’s a really nice coffee shop down the street from here," Magnus said, pointing vaguely over his shoulder as he took one of the cups.

"Did you pay for it?"

Magnus looked at him for a second, grimacing. "Sure." He nodded slowly. "Let’s say I did."

"Do you always summon your coffee from somewhere else?" Alec asked, choosing to ignore Magnus’ obvious lie and taking the other cup. He took a sip and sighed, it was really good coffee.

"I do," Magnus said, observing Alec attentively. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, not really," Alec shrugged. It was not like he had never done something similar. It tended to happen when running through the city under a glamour. "It’s not really a problem, I can always have coffee at the Institute."

"What do you mean?" Magnus frowned confused.

"I wouldn’t wake you up everyday to summon me coffee before I go to work," Alec explained, taking another sip from his cup.

"Oh," Magnus bit his lip. "I forgot about that."

"It’s okay," Alec said dismissively. "Will you tell me where we are going now?"

"Of course not, it’s a surprise." Magnus grinned, waving his hands around and making plates and forks come from the kitchen.

When they finished breakfast, Magnus opened a portal for them, and went through it holding Alec’s hand. 

The city at the other side of the portal was very clearly not New York. The sun was high on the sky, and they were in a little side street with tall exposed brick houses. Magnus guided him through a couple of narrow streets until they reached a canal.

"Welcome to Venice," Magnus said, gesturing to the city around them, with a big smile on his face.

Alec looked around and smiled too.


	8. Chapter 8

Magnus held his hand and they walked around exploring the city. From time to time, he pointed something out and told Alec stories from centuries ago. After a couple of hours, they stopped to have a gelato, and it was so much better than any ice cream Alec had ever tasted in his life.

They strolled through narrow streets and along the canal holding hands until nightfall, when Magnus took him in a gondola ride, and although Alec had been a little embarrassed at first he soon let go of it and enjoyed it fully. The date was much more romantic than Alec had expected, and he loved it.

Due to the time difference what should be their lunch ended up being dinner at a small restaurant at the margin of the Grand Canal. They ate outside under the stars and talked about things they liked and disliked. Magnus was horrified when Alec told him he had never been to the movies or watched tv, and he promised that their next date would be a Mundane dinner and a movie cliche. Not that Alec understood what exactly was cliche about dinner and a movie, but he agreed anyway.

They ended the night at a rooftop bar, where Magnus ordered bellinis. And they sat side by side outside, admiring the view.

Alec took a sip of his drink, it was sweeter than he expected and he liked it better than beer, but the light burn as the drink went down his throat was still weird for him. Magnus had said he liked having drinks at the end of the day, so Alec supposed he would get used to it eventually.

All through the day they had exchanged little innocent touches and now Alec was sitting closer to Magnus than he normally would. Their shoulders touching. Alec was excited to see where their date would end.

"Should I congratulate myself for the best date of your life?" Magnus grinned, rubbing his shoulder against Alec’s.

"This was the best." Alec smiled back at him, nodding his head slowly. "I’m sure it would be the best even if I had anything to compare it to."

Magnus tilted his head and moved away slightly to look at him properly. His smile disappearing completely. After a few seconds of silence Magnus looked away from Alec and stared down at his drink. Alec frowned. Everything had been so perfect and now Magnus was acting weirdly and Alec had no idea why or if he had done something wrong in the last few minutes.

Before Alec could say anything, Magnus asked: "When you said you’ve never been with anyone, what did you mean?"

"I thought it was pretty self-explanatory," Alec scowled, looking down at the canal. He shouldn’t have let it slip that this was his first date, of course Magnus would notice it. Everything was going so well and now he had ruined it.

"I just wanted to know if you meant sex or..." Magnus trailed off, waiting for Alec to say something. 

For a second or two Alec considered lying. No one knew he had never been on a date before. He had made up a story about a girl to Izzy and Jace years ago, and they still believed it. Magnus would never find out if he lied now and told him about that same made up girl. Maybe he could just say this was his first date with a man and that’s the reason he had nothing else to compare it to.

But he couldn’t lie. From the beginning he had decided that being honest with Magnus would be the best way to make their relationship real, they didn’t even had a full day of marriage, he couldn’t start lying.

"I meant everything. I've never been in a relationship," Alec muttered, feeling embarrassed. 

"Oh."

It was obvious that Magnus hadn’t been expecting that. He had agreed to marry a Shadowhunter, not a virgin, inexperienced Shadowhunter that had never even kissed anyone before. Alec wondered if this would be the thing that would make Magnus give up on making them work.

When his parents first came to him about this arrangement he thought he would just have to live with his spouse and perform his marital duties from time to time. It was not a pleasant idea at all, but he thought he could live with it, even if only to protect his family.

That was before he met Magnus, of course. Since then he wanted a real relationship with his husband. He wanted happiness and maybe more. And now it was all flying out of the window.

Magnus took a long gulp of his bellini, staring at the skyline with slightly widened eyes.

"You are weirded out," Alec stated, without looking at Magnus.

"Who says I’m weirded out?" Magnus sighed, wiping his mouth with his fingers.

It was quite obvious that he was. Alec took a deep breath, he had decided to be truthful with Magnus and have a relationship based on honesty, if he wanted a chance at moving on from this, he would have to lay himself bare and hope Magnus wouldn’t run away immediately.

"You want to know why I’ve never been in a relationship?" Alec questioned, but didn’t wait for Magnus to answer. "Because of this," he said, gesturing between the two of them. "Because I didn’t want to feel like there was something wrong with me, because I grew up at the Institute, because I always knew I couldn’t have what I wanted."

Magnus sighed, looking at Alec with sad eyes. "Nothing is wrong with you. Far from it. I just didn’t expect you to be so..." Magnus hesitated for a moment, moving a hand as if looking for the right word. "Innocent."

"In some ways," Alec said reluctantly. This was not what he wanted their first date to be like. He could hear the pity on Magnus’ voice and he hated it. "I don’t want you to treat me any different."

"But you are different. And it’s a good thing."

Alec was not so sure he believed that. He was already sick of talking about all the ways he was lacking in comparison to Magnus, but now that they were in the middle of it, he couldn’t stop his curiosity. "What about you? I mean, you must have had plenty of exes."

"What do you mean?" Magnus asked, taking a sip from his drink to avoid Alec’s gaze.

"You know what I mean," Alec retorted, raising an eyebrow to him. He could see that Magnus was not comfortable with that conversation either. But Alec had bared himself for him and now he needed to know.

"Alexander," Magnus hesitated, as Alec looked down at his drink, an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I’ve lived for centuries. I’ve been with men, women, Werewolves, Seelies, Warlocks, Vampires, a Djinn or two."

Alec knew that. In a basic level, he knew that Magnus had been around for a long time and hadn’t been alone for it. He had read Magnus’ file before the wedding. There was a good number of people on the known acquaintances list and Alec knew some of them had been romantically involved with his husband. Still, it was one thing to know something theoretically and another to know for sure.

"How many?" He asked. He had to know, he would never stop wondering otherwise.

"How many?" Magnus repeated slowly.

"It’s not a tricky question," Alec said apprehensively, biting the inside of his mouth. "You can round it down, if you want."

"Okay," Magnus nodded slowly. "If you want to know I’ll tell you. Seventeen—" Magnus paused, making Alec look up at him.

"Seventeen! That— That’s—" Alec exclaimed, a wash of relief going down his body. 

Seventeen was not that many. He was pretty sure Jace was already close to that number, and he wasn’t centuries old— And then it dawned on him, Magnus hadn’t finished talking. He had hesitated.

Alec stared at him and noticed Magnus’ pinched face, as if he didn’t know how to say something, then Magnus looked away, avoiding Alec’s gaze.

"Seventeen hundred?" Alec questioned, observing Magnus attentively, a cold feeling going down his spine.

Magnus didn’t answer, still looking away from Alec.

"Seventeen thousand?" Alec asked, widening his eyes.

"It’s all in the past, ancient history," Magnus said, gesturing with his hands with agitation. "Right now I’m here, with you."

"Because you have to," Alec stated, feeling embarrassed and inadequate. Magnus knew the world, he was centuries old, had tons of experiences with all kinds of people, there was nothing Alec could offer him that would ever compare. "Because they married you off to some stupid, inexperienced Shadowhunter, who had never even kissed anyone before meeting you," Alec shook his head and put a hand over his eyes, feeling anxious. This was all way worse than he had expected. Of course Magnus wouldn’t want anything to do with Alec. Why would he?

"You are not stupid," Magnus said firmly, reaching for Alec’s hand, before pausing midway and sighing. "Look, I am who I am and you are who you are and all the magic in the world can’t change that so let’s just try to make the best of it."

What was the best of it in their situation? Did Magnus mean the best in the same way Alec meant it? For Alec the best of it would be for them to be a real couple, for them to find happiness in their marriage, for them to—

Maybe the best of it for Magnus was something else entirely. Maybe the best for him was to be friends, companions, but nothing else. And Alec already felt something for Magnus, there was a sparkle there that he knew would grow into more really soon, what would he do if all Magnus wanted was to keep their marriage the business deal it was meant to be?

"Sure," Alec smiled tightly.

After that their date was pretty much over. They left the bar and walked along the canal for a while. While earlier it had been romantic to stroll the streets along the water, now the only thing on Alec’s mind was the number seventeen thousand and how different the two of them were. Magnus had been weirded out by finding out Alec had never been with anyone, he had denied it, but Alec knew it for sure. In his mind, zero was way worse than seventeen thousand. At least with seventeen thousand Magnus seemed to know what he was doing while Alec had no idea.

After a long period of complete silence between them, Magnus took a deep breath and directed Alec to a side street where he opened a portal for them to go back to the loft.

"I’ve always loved a late night stroll through the streets of Venice," Magnus said conversationally as they entered the living room.

"Yeah, gives you time to think."

"You must have thought a lot," Magnus said, turning his back to Alec and taking off his jacket. Alec sighed. "You barely said a word since we left the bar," he added after a second, walking to his drink cart and pouring himself a drink.

"Magnus," Alec hesitated. He didn’t know how to say what he was thinking, and he knew that whatever Magnus’ answer was, it wouldn’t change anything. They were married and they had to stay married if they wanted the Alliance to work. Still, they had to work things out, Alec was not sure he could deal with all the uncertainty of not knowing where Magnus’ head was at. "Do you think— Maybe we are too…" he trailed off.

"Different?" Magnus completed, still turned away from Alec.

Alec hesitated for a moment, that had been on his mind, though it wasn’t exactly what he meant now, he didn’t know how to ask what he really needed to know. He had no idea how he was supposed to ask Magnus if he thought they would work, or rather if he thought they could be happy together even though they were so different.

"Yeah."

Magnus sighed as he turned to Alec slowly. "We are from totally different worlds."

"Different centuries."

Alec hesitated again, this was not what he wanted to talk about. They had been married for a day, they were supposed to be getting to know each other, not finding things that could make their marriage not work. From the moment he met Magnus he had decided to trust this could work, there was no reason for him to change his mind now, Magnus hadn’t given him any reason to doubt that.

"Look, I don’t care how many people you’ve been with," Alec said with new-found determination.

"I don’t care how many people you haven’t been with," Magnus stated softly.

Alec took a step forward, getting closer to Magnus, close enough to feel Magnus’ chest rising and falling as he breathed. That’s where he had wanted their first date to end, not with them discussing their differences. He took a deep breath and leaned forward. He was not sure he was doing this the right way, he was not sure of many things. But he was sure he wanted to try. Alec closed the gap between them, bringing his mouth to Magnus’. 

Their first kiss had been quick and soft, barely a brush of lips.

Their second kiss had been sweet and joyful, but still ended too quickly.

This kiss felt real.

Magnus’ mouth on his felt hot and soft. And Alec suddenly realised he didn’t need to know what he was doing to kiss Magnus. He followed Magnus’ lead, putting as much pressure as Magnus was putting, moving when Magnus moved. When Alec’s lips parted, Magnus slipped his tongue inside Alec’s mouth, exploring it thoroughly. Magnus’ hands were on his shoulders and Alec’s hands moved to Magnus’ waist without his conscious decision to do so. It felt natural.

It was good, this was what they were supposed to be doing. Magnus had said they should date and let things happen naturally and Alec agreed. They had all the time in the world to figure the rest out.

Going to bed later was not as awkward as it had been the night before. Alec still tried to keep a little distance between them but was not afraid of getting closer. He exchanged a look with Magnus when he placed his dagger on the bedside table beside his phone instead of under the pillow, and Magnus chuckled a little as he leaned in and gave Alec a quick peck on the lips before closing his eyes to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, when Alec’s alarm rang he turned it off as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to wake Magnus without reason. He got out of bed carefully, petted Chairman that was sleeping on the foot of the bed, and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

When he got out of the bathroom a few minutes later, ready to go to work, neither Chairman nor Magnus were in bed anymore. Alec frowned a little and left the room to find Magnus in the kitchen with a styrofoam cup and a bagel on the counter.

"Good morning," Magnus smiled sleepily.

"Good morning," Alec said, walking over to where Magnus was. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up."

"I wanted to," Magnus murmured, leaning in to give Alec a quick peck on the mouth.

Alec smiled to himself as Magnus took a step back and gave him the coffee cup. They were still a little stiff and Alec was never sure when he was supposed to kiss Magnus and when he wasn’t, but it felt right. He could get used to these little gestures.

He drank his coffee and ate the bagel Magnus gave him without talking much, Magnus seemed to still be halfway asleep. When he finished it and was ready to leave for the Institute, he hesitated for a second, wondering if he should kiss Magnus. He didn’t have to think much though, as soon as he stood up Magnus did the same, kissed him lightly and opened a portal.

"You don’t need to do that," Alec stated, even though he liked the way Magnus seemed to want to take care of him. He was not used to it, he was usually the one taking care of everyone else.

"I know," Magnus shrugged. "It’s just for today, it’s way too early for anyone in their sane mind to be up." He pouted a little.

It wasn’t that early, most of the Shadow World’s activity happened at night, so he didn’t have any reason to go to work unreasonably early, but being Head of the Institute he had to be there in the morning hours to coordinate with the other Institutes and Alicante. But he knew that for Magnus, and even for most hunters, it was too early to wake up.

"Maybe you can go back to sleep?" Alec questioned with a half-smile, thinking about how adorable Magnus looked pouting. 

"Oh, I definitely will," he said with confidence. "Have a good day at work."

Alec stepped through the portal and appeared right outside the Institute’s door. He walked into the command center and nodded to some of the people working as he checked the incident log on one of the monitors and found nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was perfectly in order.

His office was a whole different story. He had piles of mission reports to read and a huge backlog of new directives from the Clave. Now that the Alliance was in effect he had to change all sorts of protocols regarding interactions with Downworlders.

The first thing he did was fill out a requirement for Izzy to go to University, he hadn’t forgotten her excitement over the idea of learning more from the Mundanes to apply the knowledge to their world. He was not sure the Clave would approve it, but he did his best to argue in her favor.

About two hours later, he was halfway through one of the driest directives he had ever read, when someone knocked on his door.

"Come in," Alec called out, grateful for the distraction.

"Welcome back, big brother!" Izzy walked in smiling brightly, closely followed by Jace.

"I was gone for a day," Alec said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It felt like more," Jace grimaced. "Someone allowed Izzy to cook dinner yesterday," he said, getting a slap on the arm from Izzy. "I still don’t know who it was, but I’m hoping it was someone you sent to Wrangel Island in a last act of defiance."

"Stop it, it wasn’t that bad." Izzy huffed, sitting on the chair in front of Alec’s desk.

"Not that bad," Jace shook his head. "There were eggshells on the steak!"

"They stick to things! It’s not my fault!"

"Why were you putting eggs on the steak to begin with?" Jace raised his hands in a questioning gesture.

"I’m sure I saw mom putting eggs on meat before," Izzy said confidently.

"Not on steak!" Jace exclaimed exasperated.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Izzy huffed frustrated.

"Maybe next time try using a recipe?" Alec suggested, covering his mouth with a hand to stop himself from laughing.

"Next time?" Jace asked horrified. "You are the Head of the Institute, you are supposed to protect us! Next time you’ll come back to find everyone dead from food poisoning!"

"Stop exaggerating!" Izzy grunted. "It wasn’t that bad," she said to Alec.

"It was," Jace mouthed behind her back.

Alec rolled his eyes fondly.

"So," Izzy said, wiggling her eyebrows insinuatingly. "How was your first day as a married man?"

Alec hesitated for a second, he didn’t really want to tell his siblings about Magnus’ past, but he needed a little help processing it, Magnus and him had talked, but Alec was still a little unsure about himself. And they were his best friends, he knew he could trust them with his feelings.

"Venice is a beautiful city, and my husband has had seventeen thousand lovers, most of them before I was even born."

"Wow!" Izzy exclaimed, widening her eyes comically.

"Well, most of them are probably dead by now, so there is that," Jace shrugged, sitting on the corner of Alec’s desk.

"That's not actually helpful," Alec muttered.

"Okay," Jace said, lifting his arms in a sign of surrender. "All things considered it’s not that big of a number. He has been alive for centuries."

"I know," Alec sighed, running his hand through his hair. "That’s not the problem."

"What is the problem then?" Izzy asked, leaning forward on her chair.

"I don’t know," Alec frowned, looking down at his desk for a second to put his thoughts in order before explaining. "I guess it just dawned on me that if he has all this experience maybe I won’t ever be enough? I’ll will always come short by comparison?"

"You shouldn’t think like that," Jace stated earnestly. "Each person is different. He may have been with seventeen thousand others but none of them were you."

"Yeah," Izzy smiled, nodding to Jace emphatically. "We care for different people in different ways. No one is ever the same."

"So I’m special?" Alec snickered derisively.

"Yeah," Jace grinned, ignoring Alec's mockingly tone. "I bet he has never had a top notch archer, Head of an Institute, selfless, freakishly tall, paper pusher, kind of salty, Nephilim lover before."

Jace’s description of Alec was so ridiculous that Alec couldn’t stop himself from chuckling, making Jace and Izzy laugh.

They were right, of course. No matter how many relationships Magnus had before, his relationship with Alec would always be different. If not for all the things Jace pointed out, for the way they had ended up together. 

"Also, if that’s what you really want you can always learn what he likes and what he doesn’t like. It’s not like your differences on experience stops you from learning from him," Jace shrugged after a few seconds.

"And after seventeen thousand he’s bound to have a lot to teach," Izzy smirked, wiggling her eyebrows again.

"Okay, that’s enough of _that_," Alec laughed, gesturing to Izzy’s face with his hand.

"Other than that?" Jace asked, getting a little more serious. "How was it?"

Alec bit his lip and stared at Jace for a second. He knew Jace wanted to know if Magnus had been respectful, but he knew Alec wouldn’t want to talk about that in front of Izzy. "We talked, it was good."

"Good," Jace nodded seriously. "You are way too young to be a widower."

Izzy rolled her eyes at them, and asked: "And Venice?"

Alec smiled at her and told them everything about their first date-honeymoon combo. He knew he was far more excited than he was supposed to be. This was still an arranged marriage. He still didn’t know if Magnus was on the same page as he was, if they wanted the same things out of this. But telling his siblings about dining with an amazing view and riding on a gondola, he couldn’t stop himself from hoping that Magnus’ romanticism during their date was a good sign.

In the end of the day, Alec got back to the loft to find Magnus waiting for him on the couch with a drink.

"Do you like thai food?" He asked after Alec leaned over to give him a quick kiss.

"Yeah," Alec smiled, taking off his jacket.

"There is a menu on the counter in the kitchen," Magnus said, gesturing over his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen. "I was thinking maybe we could have dinner and introduce you to the wonders of Netflix?"

Alec snorted and walked into the kitchen. Right there on the counter, beside a menu from a Thai restaurant, was a brand new coffee machine. Alec couldn’t stop himself from grinning. That was for him. Magnus had gone out of his way just to make Alec comfortable in their home. Alec picked up the menu and got back to the living room, where he kissed his husband properly.


	9. Chapter 9

Their first week of marriage had its ups and downs. Not that Alec expected it to be perfect, but small things could get annoying really fast when living with someone else.

Magnus looked appalled everytime Alec got back to the loft with his shoes dirty, and it was obvious to Alec that Magnus hated all the weapons Alec carried with him at all times.

Alec in the other hand hated how nothing seemed to have a proper place and Magnus just threw things around without care for where they landed. The door to his workroom was always closed, but Magnus tended to bring things outside and forget to put them back in place, making Alec find all sorts of things lying around when he was running through the apartment getting ready to work. Alec didn’t believe he would ever get used to finding Werewolf’s teeths in the pantry beside the sugar.

He knew he should just talk about those things with Magnus and find compromises, but he was still not sure how to approach it. He wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to act when he was in the loft. He was always hesitant to do things on his own, and the loft didn’t feel like home.

Even though Magnus was very accommodating, Alec still had trouble finding a routine they could both be comfortable with.

Alec tried to wake up early everyday without waking Magnus, but sometimes it was impossible to get out of bed without dislodging him, making Alec feel guilt for disturbing his sleep. Then he had a cup of coffee while getting ready but never found anything to eat unless Magnus was around to summon it.

At least he managed to go for a run in Central Park before work every morning, which was the most workout he got during that week, due to all the new protocols to implement and the new recruits to train and fit into the existing teams, Alec barely had time for anything else.

Even with everything he had to do, Alec made an effort to be back for dinner every night that week. After work he took a train back to the loft and Magnus either summoned something for them to eat or took him to a good restaurant nearby. That was usually the best part of Alec’s day, when he and Magnus could sit down to eat and talk about their days.

They were getting closer, but Alec still felt insecure and had trouble navigating their relationship.

It was easier when Magnus made the first move to kiss him, but he never moved things further than that, always letting Alec decide how far they would go. Alec wasn’t ready yet, he didn’t think they had reached that point, and Magnus never asked for anything more while they were making out. Still, sometimes Alec got afraid Magnus would get tired of waiting for him to get ready.

The first time Alec got to the loft earlier than usual was also the first time he saw Magnus without a shirt. 

Magnus was on the balcony, he seemed to be doing some kind of exercise with a blue ball of magic, moving the ball from one side to the other and moving his whole body with it fluidly, it reminded Alec of the Tai Chi exercises he saw some of the Chinese Shadowhunters practicing when he was a kid. Magnus’ back muscles were flexed and he was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Alec had never seen something more alluring in his life.

He was afraid he would start drooling if he kept watching Magnus’ lean body and his contracted back muscles moving slowly and enticingly, but he couldn’t make himself look away.

Magnus turned suddenly and smirked when he saw the way Alec was staring at his body, making Alec blush brightly. He greeted Magnus quickly, and ran to the bathroom to take care of the bulge in his pants, feeling more embarrassed than he knew was possible.

When he got back to the living room after a cold shower, Magnus was already summoning them dinner. Neither of them said anything about what had just happened.

A few days after that, Alec had his busiest day as Head of the Institute yet. He was already swamped with paperwork, trying to deal with all the new recruits, reorganizing the schedule with the new teams, and implementing new protocols, when the Alpha of the biggest New York pack called him.

Alec left the Institute in a hurry to mediate a conflict between the pack and a couple of Seelies who thought it would be funny to slippy one of the Werewolves a potion that turned him into a rat.

That was one of the new laws under the Alliance. Every conflict between different species of the Shadow World needed a mediator from a third unbiased specie. It was meant as a safeguard, mostly against Shadowhunters. So Alec was honored that the Alpha had chosen him as a mediator. Still, he was so busy that he would’ve been grateful if they had chosen any other Shadowhunter.

Then, when he was about to go back to the Institute, he got a call from his mother informing him of three Kuri demons that had poisoned two Shadowhunters and hurted another one. They had already sent a recovery team for the injured hunters, but they didn’t have any other teams available to get rid of the demons, so he met Izzy and Jace where the demons were last seen and started tracking them.

By the time they had killed the three Kuri demons, Jace had a sprained ankle and Alec and Izzy had to practically carry him back to the Institute for someone to put his ankle back in place before they could activate his Iratze.

"Easy there, man!" Jace complained when Alec dropped him on a bed in the infirmary.

"Maybe next time don’t jump from a three story building without activating your Surefooted Rune," Alec scolded him with annoyance.

"It was getting away," Jace justified through his teeth while Hodge put his ankle back in place.

"How are the other three?" Alec asked his mother that had just entered the infirmary and was handing him his tablet.

"The Silent Brothers managed to neutralize the venom on Mary and Stuart, but they will be out of commision for a few days," Maryse said, checking Jace’s ankle. "Elijah is already up and running."

"I’ll have to reorganize the patrol schedule again," Alec sighed, checking the schedule on the tablet.

He had a mild headache, but he ignored it and went to the office to work on the schedule and write the incident reports on all the injured hunters, including Jace’s sprained ankle. After a while he started to feel an itch under his skin that wouldn’t go away. 

Alec tried to ignore it and focused on mapping the demons’ locations, he couldn't leave it for the next day, the statistics had to be as accurate as possible. They had to know immediately of any unusual activity or spike on the number of demons on a determined area. 

His headache was getting worse and the itch was getting harder to ignore, he tried to scratch the inside of his ear but it didn't make any difference. All he wanted was to get back home and cozy up with Magnus on the couch. He looked at the clock above the fireplace and cussed, he was four hours late for dinner.

Alec had completely lost track of time. He felt terrible as he thought about how Magnus had probably waited for him to get home for a long time, and Alec hadn't even texted to tell him he would be late.

"Dammit," Alec mumbled as he picked up his phone, his jacket, and his bow and quiver. He ran from his office without stopping to say goodbye to anyone.

When he finally got to the loft, Magnus was on the couch with Chairman Meow watching tv. He raised his head and looked at Alec for a second, before turning his attention back to what he was watching.

"There is food for you under a stasis spell on the dining table," Magnus said tonelessly, petting Chairman. "Just throw it away if you’ve already eaten."

Magnus’ voice was cold and distant, and it made Alec feel so guilty. He took off his jacket and put his bow and quiver on the hooks Magnus had installed for him, before coming near Magnus.

"I haven’t eaten," he murmured. Before he could get any closer, Magnus stood up and went to his drink cart, turning his back to Alec. "I’m so sorry, Magnus, I forgot to tell you I would be late. It was a crazy day, I had to help mediate a conflict between some Werewolves and some Seelies, and then—"

"You don’t have to tell me," Magnus interrupted him excessively lightly, keeping his back to Alec while he poured himself a drink. "You have your life, you have no obligation to inform me of your every move."

"It was unconsidered of me. I live with you now, the least I can do is tell you if I’ll come back later than usual," Alec said, staring at Magnus’ back. He looked tense, but Alec didn’t want to read too much into it.

"It’s alright, Alexander," Magnus sighed, turning to Alec, his lips were set in a thin line and his jaw was tense. "I have no right to be upset."

"No, it isn’t alright," Alec declared, shaking his head emphatically. "I could’ve at least send you a text or a fire message or something. You have every right to be upset, I would be upset too if it was the other way around."

"It hasn’t even been two weeks since we got married. You were distracted by your work and tired, it’s normal to forget," Magnus said, smiling tightly.

"I was tired," Alec murmured, looking down at his body through narrowed eyes. "I was itchy and had a headache, but I’m fine now."

That wasn’t normal. He hadn’t noticed it immediately because he was focused on Magnus, but as soon as he got home his headache was gone and he felt better.

"What is happening to me?" Alec asked, raising his head to look into Magnus’ eyes.

Magnus took a sip of his drink and sat on the armchair before explaining. "It’s the bond. The magic wants us to be close, it won’t force us together but it can make us feel some discomfort when we are away from each other for longer periods of time."

"So you felt it too?" Alec asked, feeling even worse for forgetting to text Magnus.

"I did, but I would imagine it was worse for you," Magnus said, frowning a little. "My magic prevents it from getting too annoying. How much do you know about this kind of bond?"

"I read the information you gave the Clave and did my own research. It didn’t say anything about side effects though, can anything worse happen?" Alec questioned, worried. It wouldn’t do for him to feel something worse while on the field.

"Not really, usually the bond’s purpose is to link two Warlocks’ magic, it makes them both stronger, they can help each other recharge when one of them exhausts their magic, and perform more complex spells without wasting as much energy. I’ve heard of Warlocks that bonded with Mundanes many centuries ago, and what I know from that is that it didn’t give the Warlocks the usual benefits and didn’t interfere much with the Mundanes, unless the Warlock performed some additional spells on the Mundane after the bond," Magnus shrugged, frowning down at his drink. "I’m not exactly sure how it’ll work with the two of us because your kind of magic is too different from mine. But I know it won’t have any harmful effects."

"Just the itch?"

"Just the itch," Magnus confirmed, still looking serious. "And that’s only in these first few weeks. Later on the bond will get more stable and you won’t even feel the itch when you spend too much time away," he said, pursing his lips and stirring his drink with his pinky.

Alec wanted to say that he had no intention of spending much time away from Magnus. There was a lot of things that he would like to tell Magnus about what he wanted from their marriage. But he didn’t think it was the right time, and if he were to be honest with himself, he was afraid Magnus wouldn’t want the same. So he just nodded.

Magnus went to bed while Alec had dinner. It was the first time since they got married that they weren’t going to bed together.

It was a little weird for Alec to get to bed a little bit later. He felt like he was a bother and that Magnus wouldn’t want him there. He even considered sleeping in the guest bedroom just for one night, but he took a deep breath and laid down on his side of the bed anyway, he had the feeling that the awkwardness between them would only get worse if he spent the night away.

Of course he understood why Magnus was a little distant tonight. It was like Alec had completely forgotten that he had a husband to come home to, like he had forgotten about Magnus.

It wasn’t like that at all. He had been busy, but Magnus had been on his mind all through the day, he just didn’t know how to say that without sounding like he was far more invested on their relationship than Magnus was.

Alec scooched over, wanting to be closer to Magnus, and closed his eyes to sleep. No more than a second later, he felt Magnus moving closer to him too.

* * *

Alec did his best to get out of work early the next day. He wanted to show Magnus that he cared and that their relationship was important for him, without having to actually say how invested he was.

But as soon as he got to the loft, he felt that there was something wrong. He wouldn’t be able to explain what it was if anyone asked, there was nothing out of place, but he knew something was not right just as he opened the door.

He started to hear voices as soon as he walked in.

"You are only doing this because I’m married now!" Alec heard Magnus saying as he crossed the foyer into the living room.

He stopped at the doorway to find Magnus standing in front of the fireplace, his back to Alec, and a woman he didn’t immediately recognize sitting on the couch, her high heeled red shoes on the floor and her feet up, like she was absolutely comfortable. Neither of them noticed Alec standing right there.

"Like I would care for your little sham of a marriage," she laughed disdainfully. "I couldn’t care less for your little Nephilim husband, darling. I’m here because I’ve missed you. We used to have so much fun together."

"Oh yes, so much fun, like all the times you disappeared or all the times you cheated, how could I forget?" Magnus asked sarcastically. "You never cared about me, Camille."

Camille. Alec knew that name. It could only be Camille Belcourt. The former leader of the Dumort Coven. According to Magnus’ file they had been lovers for years. Alec’s stomach turned into ice. He didn’t quite know what to do. He supposed he should announce his presence somehow, but he was frozen in place wondering what she could be doing there.

"Oh please, Magnus," Camille sighed dramatically. "You aren't still upset about my dalliances with that short-lived russian, are you?"

"I’m not upset," Magnus said airily. "I gave up feeling anything for you over a century ago."

For Alec it was quite obvious that Magnus was upset. He was not sure what he was supposed to think of it, but from what he knew from listening about Izzy’s and Jace’s relationships, no one got this upset over something that didn’t affect them anymore. He considered turning around and going back to the Institute, but then he would have to explain to Izzy and Jace what had happened and he wasn't sure it was worth it. Alec cleared his throat loudly, not knowing what to do and feeling uncomfortable on the place that was supposed to be his home.

Magnus turned quickly, his eyes wide, like he was caught completely off guard by Alec’s presence.

"Oh, so this is the husband," Camille said lightly, and Alec got the impression that she had already known he was right there the whole time. She got up from the couch at Vampire speed and approached Alec, analyzing him from head to toe. "Cute," she said in a dismissive tone, before she turned back to Magnus, and walked towards him slowly. "Too bad he won’t last, isn’t it? Mortals are so fleeting, a Shadowhunter at that, they tend to die so quickly. And always such gruesome deaths,” she sighed theatrically, placing a hand on her chest. “And when he does," she paused, placing her hand on Magnus' arm. Magnus shrugged her off, but she didn't seem to care. "I’ll still be here for you, darling, I will always be."

"If you’ll excuse me," Alec said through his teeth, crossing the living room to the balcony, without looking at Magnus.

"Alexander—" Magnus extended his hand to try to stop Alec, but he averted him and got to the balcony. Before he closed the double doors he heard Camille laughing derisively and Magnus saying something he couldn’t quite understand over her laughter.

Alec felt so stupid. He had been wanting and hoping that this marriage could be real, that they could grow to love each other, but he had never even considered that one of Magnus’ past lovers could still be around, and that Magnus could still have feelings for her. He was such an idiot.

_Did he even have the right to be jealous?_ Alec asked himself, looking down at the city. Their marriage wasn’t one of love. It was an arrangement. Even though Alec had been developing feelings for Magnus since they met, he and Magnus didn’t choose each other. They were trying to make it work, and maybe Alec was a fool for convincing himself that it could be more than it was.

And even though Magnus and Camille were sort of fighting when Alec came in, Magnus had let her in, she was obviously pretty comfortable in his loft, and Magnus wasn’t doing anything to send her away. So who knew what was going to happen after they finished talking.

Maybe Magnus was tired of waiting for Alec to be ready.

Alec sighed.

He knew Magnus had a lot of partners in the past. Seventeen thousand. He didn’t think he would ever forget that number. Maybe he was tired of Alec’s inexperience. Maybe he was losing his patience. And Alec couldn’t even blame him for it, not really. They were married, it was his duty to satisfy his husband, and there Alec was, still a blushing virgin.

Alec hated it. Hated not being confident. Hated not being ready. Hated not being enough.

He heard a noise behind him and turned to see Magnus opening the door to the balcony.

"Camille is complicated. I’m sorry about that," Magnus said, coming to stand beside Alec.

"Why would you be?" Alec asked doing his best to keep his voice emotionless, looking away from Magnus, up at the sky.

"Why wouldn’t I be? Alexander, I—" From the corner of his eye, Alec saw Magnus extending a hand for him, then changing his mind and putting the hand back down. "Camille and I haven’t been together for more than a century. Whatever I felt for her is ancient history, quite literally."

"That’s not the—" Alec grunted. "It doesn’t matter."

"If this is not about Camille, what is it about then? And don’t tell me it’s nothing, I’m not blind."

"It’s just—" Alec huffed, running his fingers through his hair as he thought about how to explain what he was feeling. "This, us, it’s an arrangement, it’s not real, you wouldn’t have married me under different circumstances!" He kept his eyes on the skyline, he was afraid of even looking at Magnus, afraid of having all his fears confirmed.

Magnus reached out slowly, and with a delicate finger on his jaw, made Alec look at him. "For almost a century I’ve closed myself off to feeling anything for anyone. Man or woman. You’ve unlocked something in me. This, us, it’s real, for me." He said earnestly.

"But—"

"No, hear me out," Magnus interrupted him, putting his finger up inches away from Alec’s lips. "You are right, when I accepted this arrangement I didn’t expect it to be real. And I know this all happened backwards, but the day we met I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time."

"You did?" Alec whispered, looking into Magnus' eyes hopefully. "You really did?"

"Didn’t you?" Magnus asked softly.

"I— Yeah." Alec nodded slowly. "I felt something too."

"I was not sure you did," Magnus murmured, smiling softly and resting his hand on Alec’s cheek.

"I want us to be real," Alec confessed, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. "I want us to get to know each other and— And be happy. And I was afraid that wasn’t what you wanted from this because it’s an arrangement and—"

"I get it," Magnus interrupted him carefully. "The way we got together is confusing. But I told you I want us to make the best of it and I was being honest."

Magnus leaned in slowly and kissed Alec softly, making all the bad feelings and bad thoughts disappear from Alec’s mind. Magnus was right there with him, they wanted the same things, they were both developing feelings for each other and they could be more than what was expected, they could be happy together.


	10. Chapter 10

After their talk things changed. From an outsider’s perspective it would all look the same. For Alec it all felt different. He felt more comfortable, like he was starting to find his place in the loft and in Magnus’ life. It felt easier for him to say what he was thinking and how he felt about things.

He finally managed to talk to Magnus about the things that bothered them in each other’s habits. Alec started to make an effort to leave his shoes and weapons at the door, and to take showers at the Institute whenever he got too dirty after a hunt. And Magnus did his best to put things back in place after using them. His workroom was still a huge mess though, but that didn’t matter much since Alec almost never went there.

Magnus seemed closer too. He didn’t sleep on his side of the bed anymore, they started to go to sleep embracing each other and Alec loved the feel of Magnus’ back pressed against his chest during the night, it made him feel comfortable and safe like he had never felt before. 

And Alec felt more comfortable being the one initiating physical intimacy, he didn’t feel awkward kissing Magnus without reason or reaching for his hand in the middle of conversation anymore. He liked touching Magnus, and when they were home that was pretty much the only thing Alec wanted.

Now that he knew Magnus felt something for him too, everything felt right and Alec felt lighter. He even caught himself smiling without reason at the Institute more than once, just from remembering their last date.

They had gone to Tokyo, where despite his initial reluctance, Alec accompanied Magnus on a shopping spree, carrying his bags for him and waiting around dressing rooms. As long as he didn’t need to choose anything for himself or try on clothes, Alec didn’t really mind going from store to store and waiting for Magnus.

While Magnus was inside a dressing room with a particularly big amount of clothes to try, Alec sneaked out and bought him an omamori charm he had seen earlier in another store. It wasn’t much, but he liked the meaning of it.

After that they went to a sushi restaurant, then they strolled through the streets, where Alec saw a photo booth and pulled Magnus inside. 

They had fun, they talked, it was perfect, just like a date should be.

"I got you something," Alec said shortly after they got home, taking the little bag from his jacket’s pocket and handing it to Magnus.

"Me?" Magnus asked, frowning down at the little bag.

"Yeah, you," Alec said with a half-smile. "Open it."

Magnus took the omamori charm from the bag and threw the bag over his shoulder, staring at the charm on his hands like he couldn’t believe Alec had thought of buying something for him. It made Alec feel something warm and comfortable on his chest to see the care and attention Magnus was giving to such a small gift.

"It’s supposed to bring you luck and protection," Alec told him, watching Magnus with a fond smile.

"Thank you, Alexander," Magnus said hoarsely, still looking at the charm intensely. Then he raised his head and took a step closer to Alec, kissing him softly.

Alec was not sure his home life could get any better. Truthfully, he thought it could, but he wasn’t ready for it yet. For now, it was perfect.

His work life in the other hand was a complete mess.

To his surprise, the Clave had approved Izzy’s request to enter the forensic science program at the University, and with a little help from both Magnus and Catarina, Izzy had already started taking classes. As such, Alec had to reduce her patrolling to accommodate classes, lectures and study hours. It wouldn’t be too much of a problem, if it didn’t mean he had to put Jace on a new team.

Jace was a great soldier. Without a doubt the best Alec had on the field. But he was also hot-headed and reckless. When Jace, Alec and Izzy were on the field together, they balanced each other out perfectly. When Alec tried sending Jace out with other teams, it always turned into disasters. Alec couldn’t even blame the rest of the team, Jace was always the one that came back hurt and complaining that no one managed to keep up with him.

The number of injuries Jace sustained spiked absurdly in the two weeks since Izzy started University, and Alec didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t bench Jace, it wouldn’t be fair, so he had to do his best to balance being on the field with Jace and doing all his paperwork. Meaning that, at least twice a week, he didn’t get home until the wee hours of the morning and still had to wake up early the next morning to get to the Institute and do the administrative part of the job.

As a result, his desk was always swamped in papers and he could never find the time to do the changes he wanted to. To make things even worse, he never had time to work out anymore, which made him less efficient in the field. He was also exhausted, and running on Stamina Runes more often than not.

Alec was starting to understand why Heads of Institutes were usually married couples. It was way too much work for him to do on his on.

"It’s impossible," he sighed, taking the martini Magnus was offering him the moment he got home from the Institute exhausted, and throwing himself on the couch. "When I stay on top of the paperwork I don’t have time to train and go on patrol, and when I go out on patrol I get back to my desk buried under paperwork. It all makes sense now, that’s why it’s always a couple."

"Well," Magnus said, standing behind Alec and massaging his shoulders. "Have you ever considered an assistant?"

"An assistant?" Alec repeated slowly, narrowing his eyes. 

"I bet a big chunk of the paperwork you have to do is purely bureaucratic stuff or transference of data that you surely can have someone else doing without relinquishing part of your authority," Magnus stated, rubbing his tense shoulders. "Of course you would still deal with the important paperwork and all the things you actually need to pay attention to. But with an assistant you would have more time to work out and go out on the field, if that’s what you want to do."

None of the other Heads of Institutes had assistants, but again, they were all couples, sharing the workload between them, they didn’t need assistants. And in reality, he didn’t even had to request an assistant to the Clave, as Head of the Institute he had the liberty to allocate resources and personnel as he saw fit. He even knew who he would like to have helping him, she had been taking care of things while he was out on the field even without him asking. 

There was only one problem with that.

"Do you think it would be okay for mom to do it?" Alec asked, turning around to look at Magnus.

Magnus hadn't been around Alec's family since the wedding. Not that he didn't want to, but because the little free time Alec had these days, they wanted to spend alone together, getting to know each other better and developing their relationship.

Maryse had been supportive. While Robert had decided to go back to field work and Alec had given him a team of recently transferred hunters, his mother had been taking care of the more practical aspects of running an Institute, like taking inventory of their supplies, doing the shopping and taking care of the kitchen schedule. Alec was sure she would help him with reports from patrols and updating their files if he asked her to.

But she had been demoted for a good reason. And Alec was not sure if that would be accepted by the Downworlder leaders or if they would consider it too close to a position of power.

Magnus tapped his lips with a finger thoughtfully for a second, before shrugging. "I don’t see why not, like I said, she would do the boring bureaucratic stuff, you’d still be in charge of the important things."

"I’ll talk to her," Alec said, smiling up at Magnus and pulling him down for a kiss.

They ended up making out on the couch, something that had been happening more and more lately. When things heated up a little more, Alec hesitated for a moment, and as always Magnus pushed away from his lap and sat beside him, still between Alec’s arms.

"There was something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about," Magnus said a while later, after they had both stopped panting.

"Hm?" Alec mumbled, kissing behind Magnus’ ear lightly, inhaling the scent of his hair.

"I haven’t been to Pandemonium since the night before the wedding," Magnus said, caressing Alec’s leg distractedly. "I usually go there at least once a week, it’s where most of the Downworlders go looking for me when they need wards or a potion. I was wondering if you’d like to go there with me on Fridays?"

Alec grimaced. Clubs were not his thing. "Would you be too upset if I didn’t?"

"Of course not," Magnus chuckled lightly. "But you understand that it’s a part of what I do, right? I have people taking care of the club and everything, but I still need to be there from time to time."

"I know," Alec murmured, resuming his kisses. "I’m fine with that, it’s your job. I just would rather not having to go."

Magnus giggled when Alec breathed on a particular spot on his neck, and Alec filed that information for the future. "Not your thing, right?"

"Hm-hum," Alec mumbled affirmatively. "It’s more Izzy’s and Jace’s thing. I never liked going out to parties and stuff like that."

"You should tell them to go by the club when they have a free night, I’ll put their names on the vip list."

"Well, that was one of the first things Jace thought when he found out that I would be marrying you," Alec said, laughing a little as Magnus moved his head and his hair tickled Alec’s nose. "I’ll tell them."

* * *

As Alec expected, Maryse didn’t even hesitate when he asked her to take over some of his paperwork the next day. For a second he was afraid she would be disappointed and tell him she didn’t raise him to depend on other people to do his job for him. But as it turned out, she thought he was being smart by delegating the parts of his job that didn’t demand his personal attention.

"The mark of a true leader," she said approvingly, picking up a pile of mission reports from his desk.

"Thank you, mom," Alec said, feeling relieved.

"I think you are doing a wonderful job, Alec," Maryse said softly. "It’s not easy doing a job meant for two people on your own like you’ve been doing, and you still found time to go on patrol and train regularly."

After a week of Maryse taking care of part of the paperwork, Alec truly realized how bad he had it before. He had gone sloppy on his training and when sparring with Jace he got tired way quicker than he used to.

"Ouch," Jace laughed, extending his hand to help Alec up. "Getting married finally turned you into the tired old man you were always meant to be."

"Ha ha," Alec replied without humor as he picked up his water bottle. "It wasn’t the marriage, it was trying to take care of the Institute, and keep going on missions, and having to take care of your sorry ass, all at the same time." He took a sip of water. "Give me a second and we'll do this again."

"You’ll lose again," Jace said tauntingly as they sat down together on the bench by the far wall of the training room and rested for a few minutes. "How has it been? Your marriage?" Jace asked after a while, playing with his water bottle distractedly.

"Good," Alec smiled down to himself. "Magnus is— Magnus is great."

"Still quite magical?" Jace chuckled, raising an eyebrow to Alec.

"Yeah," Alec replied, blushing a little.

"You feel lighter," Jace commented, resting a hand on his Parabatai Rune. "Before the wedding I was afraid that you living away would drift us apart or put strain on the bond, but now you just feel better." He frowned, looking down at his bottle. "I guess I never realised how restrained you were before."

Jace was right. Before the arrangement he used to keep so much of himself locked away somewhere not even he could access easily. It couldn’t have felt good for Jace to share a burden he didn’t even know about. And then there was Alec’s misguided crush on Jace that surely weighted down their bond with all the shame Alec used to feel because of it.

Now that he understood his feelings for Jace were never what he thought they were, things were easier. Jace was objectively gorgeous, anyone could see that, but now Alec realized the feelings he thought he had for Jace were mostly a way for him to keep himself unavailable to have feelings for other men, men he could potentially have a relationship with. Just another way to keep his true self hidden from everyone else.

The feelings he thought he had for Jace paled in comparison to what he felt for Magnus the first time they saw each other.

Everything was finally in its right place. He felt lighter.

"I was holding a lot of stuff back," Alec admitted thoughtfully. "I wasn’t really lying to you, I think, I was mostly lying to myself."

"I know," Jace nodded, raising his head to smile at Alec.

They trained for a while longer before Alec had to go back to the office. Jace followed him inside, sitting on the chair in front of Alec’s desk and texting on his phone while Alec sent his monthly incident report to the Clave.

"Magnus asked me to tell you and Izzy that he put your names on Pandemonium’s vip list," Alec remembered suddenly.

"I knew that getting you married would be good for something," Jace grinned, making Alec chuckle.

"Don’t embarrass me," Alec said, trying to keep a serious face. "Magnus is there every Friday, maybe you could get to know each other?" He added tentatively. He wanted his husband to have a good relationship with his family, but he was not sure how he could make it happen.

"I guess," Jace shrugged noncommittally. "You are okay with your husband spending his Fridays in a club?"

"Why wouldn’t I be?" Alec frowned. "I trust him."

"Well, maybe I really should get to know him better then," Jace said, tilting his head to look at Alec attentively. "Is that the reason you are here this late?"

Alec shrugged. He was considering changing his schedule to go on late night patrols on Fridays while Magnus was at the club. Slowly, Alec was finding the right balance for his life.

Someone knocked on the door about an hour later, Jace was still there, chatting with Alec while he worked. Alec called in whoever it was, and smiled when Izzy walked in.

With Izzy’s new schedule and Alec’s workload, they hadn’t been seeing each other nearly enough. He missed his sister.

"You are still here!" She exclaimed with a bright smile. "Mom told me you were working late and I couldn’t believe it."

"He’s only here because the hubby is out at the club," Jace snickered. "He doesn’t have time to hang out with us anymore."

Alec scowled at him, but otherwise ignored his comment. "How are classes going?" He asked Izzy as she sat on the other chair in front of his desk.

"Oh, Alec, it’s amazing!" She said enthusiastically. "I’m learning so much! And I already have so many ideas on how to utilize the equipment for our needs! You have no idea how much more efficient our labs could be with some of this tech!"

"I believe you," Alec nodded, looking at his sister’s smile fondly. "Have you been doing your reports to the Clave like they requested?"

"All in order, big brother," Izzy confirmed, nodding proudly. "Catarina has been helping me a lot with all the applicabilities of what I’m learning."

Alec listened as Izzy talked about her classes. He didn’t quite understand most of it, but it didn’t matter, he was just enjoying spending time with his siblings.

Then Izzy started to tell them about her new boyfriend, a Seelie Knight called Meliorn that she had met at Alec’s wedding. Alec was not sure how he should feel about it, but he supposed it wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe he was a little wary because Izzy was still so young, it sounded weird for him to know that she was dating someone immortal and potentially centuries older than her. Then he felt like a hypocrite, his husband was immortal and centuries older than him, he had no room to talk.

Alec left the Institute that night feeling happy. He had missed spending time with his siblings doing nothing, just chatting and relaxing together. 

Magnus was not home yet when he arrived. It was still a little weird to be alone in the loft, but he supposed he should get used to it, it was his home, he shouldn’t need Magnus around to feel at ease. He took one of Magnus’ books to bed with him and read until he was ready to sleep.

Alec didn’t hear it when Magnus got home, but when he woke up in the middle of the night Magnus was right there, in his arms.

* * *

Alec got home completely covered in ichor a week later. He usually went back to the Institute and took a shower there after a hunt, Magnus didn’t appreciate the amount of ichor Alec dragged through his persian rugs when he went straight home, but he was too tired and the loft was closer.

The apartment was empty except for Chairman Meow that looked up when Alec walked into the bedroom. Magnus was still at the club and Alec knew he wouldn’t be home for at least a couple more hours.

He made sure to clean after himself before taking a steaming hot shower, then went to bed with a book. Chairman jumped on his lap immediately, headbutting Alec’s hand, requesting to be petted.

Alec was comfortable and warm, reading his book and scratching Chairman’s chin, when his phone started to ring.

Chairman hissed and ran away from the noise as Alec grunted, it was too late for it to be anything other than bad news. He took the phone from the bedside table and frowned when he saw Magnus’ name on the screen.

"Magnus?"

"Alexander," Magnus sounded breathless, something had to be wrong. Alec got out of bed and started dressing immediately. "Everything is okay now, but I thought it would be better if I called you—"

"What’s it?" Alec interrupted, pulling up his pants rushedly.

"Izzy is here," Magnus stated. "She had a fight with a couple of Seelies in the middle of the club. I sent the Seelies away and got her to my office. She is fine."

"I’ll be right there," Alec said, turning off the phone and grabbing his bow and quiver before leaving the loft in a hurry.

Alec didn’t know what to expect. He trusted Magnus, he knew Magnus would've told him if Izzy wasn’t okay, so he wasn’t too worried about that. He couldn’t stop wondering how she had ended up fighting with Seelies in the middle of the club. Whatever it was, it could become a huge problem for Izzy and maybe for the Institute, if not dealt with properly. He ran a little faster.

He vaguely recognized the bouncer as one of the Werewolves from the Brooklyn pack he had helped with a conflict with Seelies a few weeks back. The bouncer obviously recognized him too as he made no move to stop Alec from going in.

The music was blasting and a bluish light flashed in the dimly lit space on time with the beat. Alec grimaced as he tried to adjust his sight to the lack of light. He crossed the club trying to maneuver around Mundanes, Vampires, Seelies and Werewolves, just to realize he had no idea where to find Magnus’ office.

"Hey," a woman Alec didn’t recognized waved him over from behind the bar counter. "You are Alec, right?"

"Yeah, I’m looking for Magnus’ office," he told her, yelling so she could hear him over the music.

"I’ll take you there," she yelled back, gesturing for him to follow her down the bar. They crossed the club toward the vip section, on the wall behind the raised area she opened a hidden door to a narrow staircase. "Just up the stairs." She pointed up with a smile showcasing her sharp fangs.

Alec nodded to her politely and climbed the stairs. By the end of it he knocked on the door and sighed relieved when Magnus opened it.

"Hi," Magnus greeted him with a quick peck, then took a step back so Alec could walk into his office.

Magnus’ office was a glass walled mezzanine overviewing the club. There was a sitting area close to the glass wall with comfortable looking, coffee colored couches and a plush rug, an antique wooden desk on the other side, and shelfs full of expensive liquor bottles behind it. The music was more muffled inside the office, making it easy to talk.

Izzy was crying on one of the couches, her tears making her black makeup run down her cheeks, and her hair completely disheveled. She looked like a mess. Alec hadn’t seen her like that in a while, he vaguely remembered the last time had been after a break up almost a year ago.

"What happened, Izzy?" Alec asked, sitting down and pulling her into a hug. She didn’t say anything, just sobbed in his arms and kept crying.

Alec raised his eyes to look at Magnus inquisitively. 

"I’m not sure," Magnus shrugged, sitting on the couch across from them. "I just saw her yelling at a Seelie Knight and the Fairy he was dancing with. I stopped her when she uncoiled her whip and tried to jump the Knight."

Alec widened his eyes. That didn’t sound good at all. From what Magnus was saying the Knight was not a threat, and still Izzy had almost used her whip on him.

"Izzy?"

"He was cheating on me," she mumbled through sobs. "I caught him kissing that Fairy girl and—"

"That guy you met at the wedding?" Alec questioned, frowning.

"You were dating Meliorn?" Magnus asked at the same time.

Izzy nodded to Magnus, rubbing the tears away with her hands. "We’ve been going out since the wedding."

Alec didn’t know what to do. He kept holding her and patting her back lightly. He had no experience with this kind of things. Alec looked up at Magnus trying to ask for help without saying it.

Magnus sighed, putting his fingers on his forehead and rubbing a little. "Izzy, I don’t mean to pry, or to upset you more, but can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?" She said weakly, raising her head to look at him.

Magnus looked into Alec’s eyes for a second, then turned his attention to her. "I’ve been with a number of Seelies through the years, but I don’t think I ever met a Seelie interested in an exclusive relationship. Free loving is a big part of their culture," Magnus said evenly. "So, if you don’t mind me asking, have you ever discussed being exclusive with Meliorn?"

"I—" Izzy hesitated, tilting her head to look at Magnus with confusion. "No."

"I know this probably won’t make you feel any better, I’ve been in your position before and it is terrible," he said, looking sideways at Alec for a second. "But I don’t think he hurted you intentionally. He probably didn’t even realize you expected your relationship to be exclusive."

Izzy blinked at him for a couple of seconds and then sighed. "I really screwed it up, didn’t I?"

"No, my dear," Magnus shook his head, smiling kindly at her. "It was just a little lack of communication."

"But I was terrible, I tried to fight him," she said, covering her mouth with a hand, looking horrified. "By the Angel, that’s the reason no one trusts Shadowhunters. I could have screwed everything up just because I didn’t realize Seelies would have different ideas of what a relationship is."

"It’s okay, Izzy, you didn’t know," Alec consoled her, still patting her back lightly.

"But what if he makes a complaint against me?" Izzy’s eyes widened. "After everything you did— The Clave would have to punish me, they would have to send me away so they wouldn’t be accused of covering for a Shadowhunter’s mistakes. What do I do Alec?"

"Don’t worry about it, dear." Magnus stood up and placed a hand on Izzy’s shoulder comfortingly. "I’ve known Meliorn for a long time. I don’t think he will make a complaint. But I’ll talk to him for you and explain what happened. Alright?"

"I should apologize, right?" Izzy asked, looking from Magnus to Alec hopelessly. "I almost used my whip— I’m so stupid!"

"We can fix this, okay?" Alec said firmly, looking at Magnus for confirmation, and when Magnus nodded he added; "You’ll write him an apology note and then I want you to learn everything there is to be learned about Seelie culture. I want you to know everything they allow us to know."

"I have some very helpful books that I can lend you," Magnus said, nodding his agreement to Alec’s plan.

"You were hurt, and upset, and I understand that," Alec continued resolutely. "But you shouldn’t ever use your weapons on personal grievances. You have your whip for protection, not to hurt someone that was not threatening you physically."

"I know," Izzy murmured shamefully. "I’m so sorry."

"It’s okay," Alec sighed, pulling her into a hug. "You’ll learn from this and I trust that you’ll never make the same kind of mistake again."

"I won’t," she promised, her voice muffled by his shirt. "You won’t tell mom, right?" She asked a few moments later as she sat up straight.

"I don’t need to tell anyone," Alec told her confidently. "We should get you home," he added, looking at Magnus for confirmation.

"I— Mom will see me getting home like this," she mumbled, using her hands to make a general gesture around her face.

"You can come home with us tonight," Magnus said tentatively. "We have a guest room that no one ever uses."

"Yeah," Alec said, smiling up to Magnus gratefully. "I’ll text mom and tell her that you are spending the night with us."

Magnus opened a portal for them, and in a few seconds they were back in their living room.

Izzy looked around appreciatively.

"Thank you," she said to Magnus. "For stopping me, and for calling Alec when I was freaking out."

"Don’t mention it," Magnus said lightly with a dismissive hand wave. "That’s what family is for, right?"

"Yeah," Izzy smiled sadly.

Magnus showed her the guest room and gave her some makeup wipes and comfortable clothes she could sleep on, while Alec texted their mother, then he changed and got back to bed.

"You must be tired," Magnus murmured a little later, when he got to the bedroom and saw Alec already in bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and caressed Alec’s hair lightly. He was still on his club clothes and Alec knew it would take him a little longer to come to sleep.

"It was a long day," Alec confirmed, closing his eyes to the feeling of Magnus' fingers running through his hair. "Thank you," he murmured.

"No need to thank me, kitten," Magnus murmured.

"Kitten?" Alec grimaced.

"Don't like it?" Magnus asked, chuckling.

"Please, no," Alec whispered, shaking his head without opening his eyes.

"It doesn't matter," Magnus snorted softly. "She is your sister, I know how much you care for her and I could see she was distraught."

"You stopped her from doing something really bad." Alec yawned. "I don’t even want to think of what would have happened if you weren’t there."

"But I was there, and everything is going to be okay."

"You are wonderful, you know?" Alec mumbled sleepily. "I don’t know what would be of me without you."

"Alexander—" 

Alec didn’t hear whatever it was Magnus was about to say, he had drifted off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

When Alec woke up in the morning, he was cozy and warm with Magnus tucked under his arm. He didn’t want to get up, all he wanted was to stay right where he was with his nose buried on Magnus’ neck, feeling his woody comforting smell. Then he remembered what happened the night before, and that Izzy had slept in their guest room, and sighed.

Alec did his best to get out of bed without disturbing Magnus, who was a little clingier than usual. When he got out of the bathroom, he noticed that Magnus had moved around in bed and was now hugging Alec’s pillow. He couldn’t contain a fond smile as he left their bedroom to go wake Izzy up. 

Izzy grunted and complained about the time, but got out of bed anyway. She was a little pale, had bags under her eyes, and was rubbing her temples, complaining of a headache. Nothing uncommon after a night out partying.

"I like your new home," Izzy said sleepily when Alec placed a cup of coffee on the counter in front of her. "You should invite us over some time."

"Hm," Alec mumbled noncommittally, sipping his coffee.

He would like to have his family over and get them to know Magnus better. But he was not sure Magnus would like that, or how things would go with Alec’s parents in their home. Alec still didn’t know the whole story behind the tension that surrounded Maryse, Robert and Magnus, and he was a little wary to ask.

"Do you always wake up this early?" Izzy mumbled, rubbing her forehead with her fingers.

"It’s not that early," Alec snorted. "I usually go over incident reports in the morning, and sometimes I have conference calls with some Council members and other Institute Heads."

"You work too much," she said, laying her head on the counter with a thump.

"Tell me about it," Magnus said, appearing at the kitchen doorway. He walked to Alec and planted a kiss on the top of his head, before placing a little vial of blue liquid in front of Izzy. "This will make the hangover go away."

Izzy lifted her head and looked at the vial for a moment, before opening it and downing the blue liquid. After a second the color was back to her skin and she looked more alert. "If you weren’t married to my brother I would kiss you right now," she declared.

Magnus chuckled, before summoning Alec's favorite pancakes for them. "No need to be jealous, Alexander, I would rather kiss you, even if we weren’t married."

"Oh, Alexander?" Izzy snickered, raising her eyebrows to Alec. "I thought you hated when people called you by your full name."

Alec had never liked people calling him Alexander, but somehow it felt right when Magnus did it, he didn’t quite know why. 

"Other people," Alec said, tilting his head a little and biting the inside of his mouth. "Not Magnus."

"Oh, so Magnus can call you Alexander?" Izzy asked, mimicking the tone Magnus used to say Alec’s name and grinning widely.

He just nodded, blushing, as Magnus looked at him intensely for a second, then kissed him sweetly on the lips.

"Come on, I need to get to work," Alec said a little embarrassed, gesturing for Izzy to eat.

He watched as Magnus and Izzy chatted while they ate, he couldn’t suppress a smile when Izzy started to praise Magnus’ fashion choices and ask for makeup tips. It was good seeing Magnus around the people he loved, it gave Alec a warm feeling in his chest, he wished it could happen more often.

When they walked out of a portal and into the Institute a while later, their mother was waiting for Alec at the command center. Maryse looked at Izzy through narrowed eyes, but didn’t say anything to her, focusing on Alec immediately.

"Our wards are due to being reinforced this week," Maryse said, cutting straight to the point as she handed Alec his tablet. "We usually call Warlock Chang to do it, but I was wondering if you’d prefer to hire Magnus?"

"Yeah, I think that would be better," Alec nodded, logging into the system and going over last night’s incident reports, after a second he added; "You shouldn’t call people by their species, mom, it’s degrading."

"Oh," Maryse hesitated for a second, then nodded as they walked together to Alec’s office, leaving Izzy behind. "You are right, it wasn’t my intention."

"I know," Alec sighed. All Shadowhunters had a lot of prejudice to unlearn, including him, the best they could do was call each other out whenever it happened, and try to be better. "You’ll get used to it."

"I will. Wouldn’t want to offend your husband and ruin whatever good will he has for me right now," she said, before briefing him on last night's patrols.

Maryse stopped at the door when they reached the office, and huffed as he sat at his desk. Alec looked up at her expectantly, he knew that face, she had something else to say and she thought he wouldn’t like it.

"Eventually you'll realize that if you keep covering up for her, she’ll never learn that her actions have consequences."

"Mom," Alec said in a warning tone.

"I just hope you won’t throw away everything you sacrificed yourself for because of your sister’s lack of judgement," Maryse said, staring into his eyes intensely. "Whatever it was, at least try to talk some sense into her."

He bit the inside of his mouth and shook his head slowly. It was no use trying to keep things from their mother. "I talked to her, everything is alright."

"I hope so," Maryse sighed, leaving his office.

Alec hoped so too. Magnus had promised to talk to Meliorn and sort things out, and Alec trusted him to do so, but there was no way of knowing for sure if Meliorn would accept Izzy’s apology. 

He had no idea what he would do if Meliorn decided to press charges against Izzy, if his punishment for her was light he could be accused of preferential treatment, if he was harsh he would have to be just as harsh with everyone else in the future. He could always relinquish the punishment to the Inquisitor, but Imogen was not known for her mercy and patience.

By mid-afternoon Alec called Magnus;

"Meliorn was very understanding, even more than I expected, honestly," Magnus said over the phone.

"He won’t press charges then?" Alec asked, needing the verbal confirmation to be able to release the tension he had been building up the whole day.

"He won’t press charges," Magnus confirmed. "And he wants to see Izzy again and talk to her, I think he is rather taken by her."

"Good," Alec sighed in relief. "I think," he added after a second.

"He’s overall a good person. He didn’t expect her to think they were exclusive," Magnus said. "This mistakes are to be expected after all the years of conflicts and distance between our people. It surprises me that we never had these kind of problems."

"Other than me sleeping with my dagger?" Alec chuckled.

"And the ichor." Magnus laughed.

"I stopped going home covered in ichor!" Alec protested, even though he had gone home covered in ichor the night before, Magnus didn’t know that. Then he remembered the Institute’s wards and Maryse’s suggestion to hire Magnus. "Mom said our wards need to be reinforced, we were wondering if you’d do it?" He asked, and then he cussed himself as he heard how it sounded. "For payment, of course, I would never ask you to—"

Magnus chuckled, making Alec shut up. "I had already understood, Alexander, but thank you for the clarification."

"I don’t want to take advantage of you," Alec said sincerely.

"I know," Magnus declared. "Don’t worry, you aren’t. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your wards anyway, I’m very particular with my wards, and with you spending so much time at the Institute, I wanted to check if your wards were up to my standards."

Alec smiled to himself, feeling relieved. "Mom said Mr Chang usually does our wards?"

"Hm, Chang, he’s an okay Warlock, but nothing compared to me, of course."

"Of course," Alec agreed, doing his best to keep himself from laughing. "When can you come over?"

"I’m not busy right now," Magnus said in a questioning tone.

"It works for me."

"I’ll be there in a minute."

Alec got up from his desk and rushed to the entrance of the Institute. He was more excited to see Magnus than he should, considering he had been with Magnus in the morning. But he couldn’t stop himself from being happy that he would get to see his husband earlier than usual.

Magnus was already there when he got to the command center.

Alec hesitated for a moment, he wasn’t exactly sure how to act around Magnus in front of other people. Of course everyone knew they were married, but everyone also knew it was an arrangement. He was not sure if he should be discreet and keep the impression that their marriage was just a business deal, or if he should just do what he wanted, and let everybody know that their relationship was real.

The moment he locked eyes with Magnus he knew what he had to do, there was no other option; Alec strode toward Magnus with determination and kissed him chastedly on the lips. When he took a step away, he noticed that everybody at the command center was staring at them, some with wide-eyed surprise, others with barely contained smiles. Alec didn’t care.

"Hi," Magnus murmured, sounding slightly surprised.

"Hi," Alec replied with a smile. "Where do you want to begin?" He asked a little louder, slipping into his Head of the Institute voice.

"Right here is fine," Magnus stated, looking around purposefully. He took a deep breath and started moving his hands around in patterns, weaving the magic around them.

No one interrupted as Magnus reinforced the wards, but Alec could see some people watching attentively as the magic flew through the room.

It took Magnus almost and hour to be satisfied with the main wards, then he asked Alec to walk with him through the rest of the Institute so he could check the outer layers of the wards and change them to his standards.

They crossed paths with Maryse in the residential wing, she greeted Magnus politely with a tentative smile, before addressing his payment. Alec stepped away to not get involved in their negotiation, he was pretty sure it would constitute conflict of interest if he was the one arranging his husband’s payment.

When they reached an agreement, Maryse nodded to Magnus and left them to finish the wards. Alec’s office was left for last, and Magnus decided to add a couple extra wards on Alec’s desk to prevent anyone other than Alec to open some of the drawers.

"I guess I’ll see you back home?" Magnus asked when he was finished, looking at the pile of papers on Alec’s desk with a raised eyebrow.

"It won’t take me too long," Alec said, measuring the pile mentally. "Maybe you could wait and we could go together?" He asked tentatively. "If you want to, of course. It’s okay if you don’t want to wait. I—"

"I think that’s a great idea, Alexander," Magnus interrupted him with a smile and sat on one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, the same one where he had sat the night they first met. "I have to admit, when I agreed to come I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me in the middle of the Institute."

"Was that not okay?" Alec frowned with concern, he had been pretty sure Magnus wouldn’t mind the other Shadowhunters knowing they were giving their marriage a real try, but maybe he had read the situation wrong.

"Oh, it was more than okay," Magnus chuckled, looking at Alec fondly. "Just a little surprising. I thought you’d want to be discreet about our relationship."

"I have no reason to hide anything from anyone." Alec shrugged. "Not anymore."

Magnus smiled and nodded as Alec started to go through the paperwork.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door and Alec called whoever it was to come in.

"We heard we had a visitor," Izzy said, walking into the office with Jace and Max right behind her.

"Magnus!" Max squealed excitedly, and ran to Magnus with a big bright smile. "We heard you were here doing a lot of magic." 

"That’s right," Magnus grinned. "The Institute needed a little extra protection," he said, snapping his fingers and making sparks fly from his hand.

"So cool!" Max exclaimed, watching the sparks with wide eyes.

"We also heard that the Head of the Institute was giving his hubby a smooch in the middle of the command center," Jace commented, closing the door behind him, and sitting on his usual chair in front of Alec’s desk. It was said in a joking tone, but Alec knew what Jace actually wanted to know.

Alec nodded. When he decided to kiss Magnus in front of everyone, he knew people would gossip about him. By now half of the Shadow World already knew about it and were probably wondering if he had always liked men or if he was just conformed with his marriage.

He didn’t care. His siblings and his mother had already known. At least he was pretty sure Jace had figured it out on his own before the wedding. Other than his father, no one he cared about would be surprised.

Admittedly, Alec didn’t know how his father would react to it. But Robert had no right to judge Alec if he didn’t like it. He was the one who followed a genocidal sociopath, he didn’t have the right to judge anyone’s choices.

Jace stared into Alec's eyes for a second, before nodding and turning his attention to Magnus and Max.

Magnus summoned them some snacks, while Alec finished his work for the day, then started to tell Max a story involving a princess with magical hair. Alec heard some snippets of it, but didn’t really pay attention.

When he finished the last report from the day, he raised his head to see Magnus using magic to illustrate the story. And to his surprise it wasn't only Max and Izzy staring at Magnus in fascination, but Jace too.

"I still can't believe you Shadowhunters don't know some of this classical children's stories." Magnus shook his head, looking at them pityingly.

"We have other classical stories," Jace shrugged dismissively.

"Stories about duty and killing demons are not what I would call ideal bedtime tales," Magnus said, raising his eyebrows to Jace.

Before Jace could say anything, Max interjected: "I liked Magnus’ story."

"It’s from a movie," Magnus stage whispered, making Max laugh delighted.

Alec and Magnus left the Institute not much later. When they got home Magnus went to the drink cart to pour them a drink, and Alec sat on the couch, watching him.

"I liked that," Alec commented, when Magnus sat beside him.

"What?" Magnus asked, tilting his head to look at Alec.

"You spending time with me and my siblings at the Institute." Alec shrugged. "I haven’t been spending much time with them outside work lately."

"Maybe we could invite them over from time to time?" Magnus suggested. "I bet Max would love to watch some Disney movies."

"I would like that," Alec smiled lopsided, leaning in to give Magnus a quick kiss, before they started to talk about what they wanted for dinner.

* * *

In the following weeks, Magnus started to show up at the Institute on nights Alec worked late. He would usually text first to see if Alec was in the Institute or out on the field, if Alec was in the office he would get there and summon them dinner. And whenever he was there, Jace, Izzy and Max gathered in Alec’s office, and they had a nice time together.

Alec noticed that his mother always lurked around when Magnus was there, but never quite approached them or spent any time with them. He wondered if she felt unwelcomed when Magnus was around, or if she was trying to give Magnus space and waiting for Alec to invite her to join them.

Robert, however, was never around. Alec thought it was a little weird how he almost never saw his father outside briefings lately, he wondered if Robert was avoiding him on purpose. Maybe his father was upset that Alec was making it clear to everyone that he was happy in his marriage with a man. Alec tried not to worry about it, but he couldn’t avoid feeling like he was a disappointment to his father.

He knew he shouldn’t. His father’s opinion shouldn’t matter after everything he did in the past. But Alec had spent his whole life doing everything he could to make Robert and Maryse proud of him, and now he felt like a failure.

As Magnus had suggested, they started to invite Jace, Izzy and Max over to the loft, usually to watch children’s movies, that Max started to love, and to have dinner. 

Izzy and Magnus always had a great time together, talking about all kinds of things from makeup and fashion to complex genetic questions and how to apply Mundane knowledge to the Shadow World, they were truly becoming friends. Jace in the other hand was a little distant with Magnus, but Alec didn’t worry much about it, he knew Jace had a hard time warming up to people.

They were approaching their second month of marriage, when Magnus took Alec to Prague, where Alec had to wear the black smoking Magnus had bought him to the Opera. Alec wasn’t exactly an Opera person, but he enjoyed going with Magnus. It was something he had noticed early on, even the things he didn’t think he would like turned out to be enjoyable, when Magnus was with him.

The night after their trip to Prague, Alec managed to get home early. Magnus was not in the living room, or in the balcony training shirtless like Alec had hoped, but the door to his workroom was opened. It was usually kept closed because Magnus didn’t want Chairman walking around his potions and leaving cat hair on his ingredients, and by the time Alec got home from the Institute, Magnus was usually already done with work.

He heard Magnus’ laugh coming from the room and went over to tell Magnus he was home.

"Your husband is here," a voice he vaguely recognized said, before he had even approached the door.

"Come in, Alexander," Magnus called from inside.

The first thing Alec saw as he walked in was Raphael in the corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching Magnus working on a potion.

"Hi." Alec shook Raphael’s hand, before approaching Magnus carefully, he wasn’t sure if the potion he was working on was dangerous or if it was okay for him to get closer. "I just wanted to tell you I’m home, I didn’t want to interrupt."

"You aren’t interrupting anything," Magnus said, gesturing for Alec to come closer, then giving him a chaste kiss. "I’m just brewing a quick blood disguising potion," he added, gesturing to the concoction in front of him. "One of Raphael’s fledgelings is having trouble adapting to his new diet."

"A vampire that finds the sight of blood unsettling," Raphael said in a bored tone, rolling his eyes. "Why I take these people in will always be a mystery."

"You take them in because you are a softy at heart," Magnus chuckled, mixing the potion carefully.

"I’ll leave you to it, then," Alec said, gesturing to the door.

"Raphael doesn’t mind you staying," Magnus stated, looking up to Raphael for confirmation.

Raphael nodded, so Alec sat at Magnus’ desk and watched him work. Magnus was chatting with Raphael animatedly, while Raphael mostly answered him with murmurs and groans, but Magnus didn’t seen to mind. It was a weird friendship, and Alec found himself curious to know how it had happened.

"Oh, Raphael, you are always so entertaining," Magnus said as he finished the potion, and Raphael’s only response was an eyeroll. Magnus laughed, pouring the potion in a vial. "You have to visit more often."

"How much do I owe you?" Raphael asked, pocketing the vial Magnus had just given him.

Magnus waved him off nonchalantly. "Do your thing, you can pay me if you need another batch."

"I can pay you, Magnus," Raphael huffed impatiently.

"I know you can, I just don’t want you to." Magnus shrugged, stepping closer to Raphael, and whispering something Alec couldn’t hear.

Alec averted his eyes. Whatever Magnus was saying was private between the two of them, and he didn’t want them to think he was eavesdropping. He looked down at Magnus’ desk and smiled when he saw a frame with a picture they had taken on their first date-honeymoon in Venice.

"Can you stay for a drink?" Magnus asked a little louder a few seconds later, and Alec raised his head.

"I have to deal with this," Raphael replied, gesturing to the pocket where he had put the potion.

"Don’t be a stranger," Magnus said seriously and Raphael nodded. Then he gave Alec a curt nod and left.

"Such a little ray of sunshine," Magnus commented brightly, cleaning his workspace by hand.

Alec rolled his eyes and picked up the picture frame from Magnus’ desk. "Can I have one too? For my office?"

Magnus beamed at him, leaving what he was doing and sitting on Alec’s lap to kiss him properly. "You can have as many pictures of us as you want," he murmured, before kissing him again.

Alec felt heat going down his body as he deepened the kiss. His body was more than ready to take things further with Magnus, and as he grabbed Magnus’ butt to pull him closer, Alec thought that he might be mentally ready for it too.

He felt safe and cared for with Magnus. He had never met someone as patient and generous in all aspects of life. Magnus was perfect for Alec, in every way he could think of. And he was hot, Magnus was so hot.

Alec stood up, pulling Magnus with him, and pushed Magnus to the wall, pressing their bodies together, and kissing him deeply. He rolled his hips against Magnus’ and moaned as he felt that Magnus was just as excited as he was. That was it, Alec was ready for it, he was finally going to have sex with his husband.

Alec’s phone rang loudly, vibrating inside his pocket, and making him groan. For a second he considered ignoring it. He had just got home, certainly nothing too bad could have happened since he left the Institute. But he couldn’t. He was the Head of the Institute, he had to answer his phone, even when he was in the middle of rubbing his body against his husband’s.

Magnus whimpered when Alec stepped away, making it even harder for Alec to find the resolve to answer the phone.

"I have to—" Alec said, panting.

"I know," Magnus replied breathlessly, wiping his mouth with his fingers.

Alec answered his phone without looking at the screen. "What?"

"Alec," his mother replied sharply, and started talking fast. "We detected an unexplained spike in the number of demons near Prospect Park. I sent a team to scout the area and they found a horde of at least fifty demons from variant types around a warehouse."

"Send all available personnel, I’ll be there right away," Alec replied quickly, looking at Magnus apologetically while Maryse gave him the address.

"What is it?" Magnus asked when Alec turned off the phone.

Alec rushed to the living room as he explained, adjusting his pants before quickly putting on his jacket. "There’s a big horde of demons near Prospect Park, at least fifty according to reports from personnel on the field. We don’t know where they are coming from," Alec sighed deeply. "I need to go."

"I’m going with you," Magnus said with determination.

"You don’t need to do that," Alec stated seriously, already picking up his bow and quiver.

"I know," Magnus shrugged. "But you’ll be faster if I go with you, and then we can come back home and resume from where we stopped."

Alec nodded, feeling his cheeks getting flushed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey people!  
You may have noticed that this fic is now part of a series. Due to all your kind comments and kudos I started to write a sequel for it! I don't know yet when it will be ready for posting (I don't like posting without a defined plan for the fic and I'm still outlining it), but it's coming...  
I hope you all keep enjoying it! Let me know in the comments, they always make me happy!  
Thank you.


	12. Chapter 12

Alec activated his battle Runes in a hurry while Magnus opened a portal for them. They appeared a block away from the address his mother had given him and ran to the site of the horde to find dozens of Shadowhunters already there, surrounding the entrance of a warehouse in a protective formation. It was bad. From where he was, all the way on the back, Alec could see dozens of demons attacking the front line. His training and the adrenaline kicked in as he saw one of his hunters fall, and he immediately notched an arrow and spun into action.

He slipped to the front line easily, notching arrow after arrow, shooting the closest demons, while other people around him pulled the fallen hunter away from harm.

Magnus was close behind him, Alec wasn’t looking, but the flashes of red magic hitting the demons gave him a general idea of Magnus’ position. After a quick assessment, he saw that most of the hunters on the outer layer of the formation were hurt and covered in more blood than he would have liked. At least no one seemed to be unconscious, but he didn’t have time to check all of them.

His bond with Jace and the adrenaline of the fight guided him to his siblings, they were together fending off a Hellhound on the front line. Alec hit the Hellhound with two arrows in quick succession, while Izzy held its legs with her whip and Jace slashed its throat, making it explode in dust, leaving a scorch mark on the cement floor.

Jace and Izzy didn’t even look at him as he approached, already focusing on the next wave of demons. As they should, because a second before Alec could join them in the front line, he saw a demon coming for Izzy’s blind side, he was already notching his next arrow, when he saw a flash of red magic coming from Magnus, making the demon Alec was aiming for explode.

"It never stops!" Jace yelled, slicing through a Drevak demon, when they were close enough to hear each other. "They just keep coming out of that warehouse."

"We have to get inside," Alec stated, hitting a Shax demon with two arrows and commanding the hunters closest to them to help them clear a path to the entrance of the warehouse.

In the middle of the preparations to advance into the warehouse, Alec turned to Magnus, grabbing his arm to get his attention. "Stay here."

"No," Magnus replied firmly. "I’m more equipped to deal with whatever is summoning these demons than you." He moved his hand forcefully and blasted a demon that was approaching them with red flames to prove his point.

But Alec was not sure he could do it. He was not confident he could keep his focus on the task ahead of him with Magnus in the middle of it all, potentially in danger. He knew Magnus could take care of himself, but he couldn’t avoid worrying about him in this situation, and he was afraid he would end up letting his people down because of it.

"I’ll cover his back," Jace declared, locking eyes with Alec, probably feeling Alec’s conflict and fear.

Alec understood the offer for what it probably was, Jace’s way of telling Alec that if Magnus was important to him, then he was important to Jace too, and that he would make sure Magnus wouldn’t get hurt.

He nodded gratefully and they started to make their way to the warehouse’s open door.

They broke the protective semi-circle formation with six other hunters helping them clear the path, they kept their backs to each other, making sure to have eyes in all directions. All the other teams kept position making sure none of the demons would escape the perimeter. Alec’s main focus were the demons closer to the door, while Jace, Izzy, Magnus, and the others dealt with more immediate threats.

Their progress was slow but steady, they were just a few steps away from the door when Alec heard a piercing scream from his right, making an icy feeling go down his spine. He halted and felt everybody around him halting too.

His first impulse was to turn and see what was happening, but he was trained better than that. In this kind of situations, if everybody turned at once they would lose sight of their surroundings.

"Report?" He asked urgently, fearing Izzy or Magnus could be hurt. He knew it wasn’t Jace, he could feel Jace’s steady heartbeat, synched to his, through the bond.

"Alison is down," Izzy yelled from his right. "Fire demon!"

"Hold positions!" Alec ordered quickly. As long as everyone kept their eyes on the right place he could turn to assess the situation.

Izzy was on the floor holding Alison, Jace and Magnus were a step behind, covering them. Alison was unconscious, half of her body was burned and covered in blisters. The skin on her face seemed to be separating from her flesh, and her arm was scorched black. The smell was the worse part, it was like burned meat and it was giving Alec nausea.

"Izzy, give me an assessment," Alec asked, kneeling beside them to check Alison’s airways.

"Non-lethal but incapacitating," Izzy replied, checking Alison’s pulse. 

An Iratze wouldn’t be enough to heal her, not with that amount of damage, and they couldn’t stay there in the middle of everything. Alec had to make a decision, and he had to do it fast.

"I can heal her," Magnus yelled from behind them.

"No," Alec replied firmly, standing up. "We’ll follow protocol. Raj, Carlton, stay behind covering Alison. If there is a window the others will advance to your position and you’ll be able to move Alison to the other side of the perimeter. The rest of you come with me."

Alec heard confirmative replies from everyone, except Magnus.

"But I can heal her," Magnus repeated insistently.

"I know," Alec stated, looking at Magnus as best as he could from his resumed position at the front of their formation. "But protocol exists for a reason, we don’t know what we’ll find inside, we can’t waste time and resources on non-life threatening wounds."

Magnus didn’t seem happy to hear that, but he didn’t argue, and Alec knew the others understood his position and how he had to prioritize things, he was sure Alison would understand too.

They resumed their way to the warehouse’s doors leaving Alison behind with Raj and Carlton. Alec trusted the protocol and trusted that the more senior hunters that they left behind on the protective formation would know what to do to reach Alison. That’s what they had all been trained to do, Alec had to trust their training. He had to go to the source of the problem, or they wouldn’t solve it.

The first thing they saw when they gained access to the warehouse, still in formation, was a huge hole on the floor, from where the demons were coming.

"It’s a rift," Magnus called from behind him.

Alec quickly assessed the situation. The warehouse was full of demons, and more demons were climbing out of the rift by the second. First priority was closing the rift.

"Can you close it?" Alec asked, shooting arrow after arrow to clear a path to the edge of the rift.

"Is that protocol?" Magnus questioned scornfully.

"Yes, Magnus, closing rifts that are releasing dozens of demons in our world is protocol," Alec snapped, impatiently. "Now can you close this thing or should I call another Warlock?"

"I can close it," Magnus huffed irritated.

"Clear a path to the edge, then cover Magnus’ back, understood?" Alec declared to the others, that confirmed from their positions.

Their progress was slower than when they were outside, the concentration of demons inside the warehouse was higher. Alec felt Underhill groan in pain by his left side, but he was still standing and fighting, so they didn’t stop. Izzy yelped from behind him, and he was ready to stop, but she called out that it was just a scratch.

When they finally reached the edge, Magnus moved to the front of the formation and all the others, except Alec, rearranged their positions to cover Magnus’ back, as he kneeled on the edge of the rift. Alec’s legs were touching Magnus’ back as he kept his eyes on the demons coming out of the rift, knocking down all the ones that were climbing in Magnus’ direction.

Magic started to pour out of Magnus’ hands and surround the rift. Magnus panted a little, pushing his arms together and forcing the magic to push the edges of the rift.

"There is someone passed out behind the door," Jace called from his position, back to back with Alec.

"Any movement?" Alec asked, notching another arrow and shooting another demon that was approaching Magnus from inside the rift.

"Not from what I can see," Jace replied.

"First priority is the rift," Alec declared firmly. Whoever it was would have to wait.

Magnus groaned, pushing more magic to the rift that was considerably smaller, but still large enough for the demons to crawl out. Alec felt Magnus wobbling a little, and crouched to hold him in place.

"I’m almost done," Magnus groaned, still pushing the magic with all his strength.

The demons kept coming from inside the rift, and there was no way Alec could use his bow and hold Magnus at the same time, he put his bow away and took out his seraph blade to slice a Drevak demon in half, without letting go of Magnus’ back.

In a couple more seconds it was done.

Magnus let go of the magic and leaned against Alec’s chest heavily, panting for breath. Alec held him, running his eyes on a semicircle around them, assessing the situation as best as he could. Then he looked down at Magnus, he was still breathless, his face was pale and he was covered in sweat, Alec could feel him trembling a little. Closing the rift must have been harder than he had made it seem. He grabbed Magnus’ hand to help him up and hesitated, Magnus’ hands were usually too hot, and now they were icy cold and damp.

"The rift is closed," Alec declared to the others, giving Magnus more time to catch his breath. "Jace, report?"

"Izzy and Underhill sustained minor injuries," Jace replied, still fending off demons.

"I’m fine," Izzy called from Alec’s right.

"Just a scratch," Underhill reported from Alec’s left.

"You okay?" Alec murmured to Magnus, squeezing his shoulder lightly.

"Perfectly fine," Magnus said in an airy tone that didn’t fool Alec.

He helped Magnus up, but kept a hold on his arm when he felt Magnus staggering on his feet.

Now that the rift was closed the situation was more manageable and they could spread out off formation, Alec, Jace and Magnus made their way to the person passed out by the door, while the others continued getting rid of the remaining demons.

Jace crouched to check on the person while Alec covered his back, still keeping Magnus close to him.

"He has a pulse and is breathing normally," Jace stated, from behind Alec. "Horns," he added after a second. "He’s a Warlock,"

Magnus changed places with Jace, crouching to look at the Warlock, and Alec crouched with him, not wanting to let go of Magnus when he could see that Magnus wasn’t completely stable yet.

"I don’t know him," Magnus declared a moment later.

"What’s the protocol for unknown unconscious Warlocks found on the site of a rift, Mr High Warlock of Brooklyn?" Jace asked flippantly.

Magnus used Alec's shoulder for support and stood up, ignoring Jace’s quip and focusing on Alec. "I’ll fire message someone to come collect him and take him to the Spiral Labyrinth for questioning."

Alec nodded and watched Magnus attentively as he moved his hands around and summoned some paper, before sending it away with a flare of fire. Magnus’ breath was slightly jagged, but otherwise he looked more stable on his feet, so Alec let go of him to assess everything else.

The inside of the warehouse was cleared, and judging from the other hunters coming in, the outside must have been cleared too. Alec left Jace with Magnus and the unknown Warlock, and went to check on Izzy, Underhill, Alison, and the others.

They had no casualties. Underhill’s scratch turned out to be a deep long cut on his left upper arm that he healed with an Iratze. Izzy’s was a pincer to the waist that was still inside her, it couldn’t be removed on the field, so Alec sent her back to the Institute with the other injured. And Raj reported to Alec that Alison had already been sent to the Institute.

Alec ordered the remaining hunters to double check the perimeter, and to make sure none of the demons had managed to escape or hide. Then he got back to Jace and Magnus.

Magnus was breathing normally now, but Alec still thought his face looked strained, he was pale and sweaty. He tried once again to ask Magnus if he was okay, but Magnus just shrugged it off, saying he was fine.

They didn't have to wait long before a woman Alec vaguely recorded being at their wedding entered the warehouse and came over to where they were.

"This is Sophia May, she's a member of the Spiral Council," Magnus introduced as Alec and Jace shook her hand. "I believe you remember my husband Alexander and this is Jace, his _ parabatai_."

Sophia nodded politely, then turned to check the unconscious Warlock.

"What can you tell me?" Sophia asked Magnus in a thick british accent.

"It looks like a summoning gone wrong, but there is no way of knowing if this was an honest mistake without questioning him."

Sophia hummed in agreement. "It's better if I don’t wake him before taking him to the Labyrinth," she declared seriously. "I'll inform you of whatever he has to say after his interrogation."

Magnus thanked her as she opened a portal, grabbed the unknown Warlock's hand, and levitated him through it.

Alec observed Magnus for a moment, before turning to Jace. "Help mom keep an eye on everything at the Institute, she'll be busy with all the injured. I'll go home with Magnus. I can take care of the incident reports in the morning. Call me if you need anything."

"Got it, boss," Jace said jokingly, giving Alec two thumbs up. He was always weirdly cheery after a big hunt.

Magnus’ hand was trembling when he opened a portal for them to go home, and the moment they stepped out of the portal in their living room, Magnus’ legs faltered.

Alec barely managed to catch him before he fell.

"What’s wrong?" Alec questioned with his voice full of worry, carrying Magnus to the couch. Now that they were home, Magnus’ face showed pain.

"Too much magic," Magnus mumbled almost incoherently.

"Why the hell did you portal us home then?" Alec asked, his concern making the words sound harsher than he wanted. He felt guilty, he had noticed Magnus was not alright, he should have known better. He was so stupid.

"Can’t show weakness in front of Shadowhunters," Magnus declared in a weak voice.

Alec hated it, but he understood. He couldn’t show weakness either. More than once he had done the same. Kept fighting even in pain, kept standing and pretending nothing was wrong even when he was on the verge of exhaustion. It was how he had been raised, he still could hear his father’s voice inside his head; _ If a leader shows weakness he loses the respect of his troops. _

Of course it would be similar for Magnus, after so many years fighting Shadowhunters and negotiating with the Clave. Alec sighed.

"You could’ve at least told me," Alec stated, helping Magnus put his feet up on the couch, and taking off his shoes. "I could’ve come up with an excuse for us to leave on foot, and then we could’ve grabbed a cab."

Magnus looked at him with half-lidded eyes for a couple of seconds, then nodded. "Next time."

"I’d rather not have a next time," Alec grunted, helping Magnus out of his jacket, trying to get him comfortable. "If you think you are going to get depleted you tell me. I don’t like seeing you like this."

Magnus smiled softly, and nodded weakly, his eyes closing slowly.

"How can I help you feel better?" Alec whispered, crouching beside Magnus’ head, and running his hands up and down Magnus’ cold arms.

"Steak and a martini."

"Seriously?" Alec snorted, but Magnus just hummed affirmatively. "I don’t know how to cook steak or how to make a martini. But I can figure it out," he said softly, watching his husband with worry and amusement.

"I’m sure you can, sweetie," Magnus murmured.

"Sweetie?" He chuckled. "Please, no."

Magnus shrugged, snuggling down on the couch to get more comfortable. Alec shook his head and stood up, going to the kitchen to see what he could do.

He wasn’t even sure they had food in the loft. Magnus always insisted on summoning their meals, and other than coffee, Alec never made anything in their kitchen. He walked through the kitchen opening and closing cupboards and the fridge, and was not at all surprised to find it all empty. He sighed, taking his phone from his pocket, he was going to need a little bit of help.

After a night like that, the Institute’s kitchen would still be at full activity, feeding everyone that had just come back from the field. If Alec was lucky, they would have a couple steaks to spare.

Jace answered his phone on the first ring, and Alec could feel through their bond that he was still pumped from the fight.

"Everything alright over there?"

"Izzy is good, the pincer wasn’t poisonous, most of the other injured just needed an Iratze and a good night of sleep. Alison was the worst off, but she’ll be up on her feet soon enough," Jace told him. "We have a couple of teams still out there making sure nothing was left behind, and the others resumed regular patrol."

"Good," Alec sighed, relieved to know everything was in order. He knew he was supposed to be at the Institute after a mission this big, it was his job to check on everything, but Magnus needed him, and as his husband it was also Alec’s job to take care of him. He was grateful he had Jace and his mother to help him with it. "Are you free to do me a quick favor?"

"Sure thing," Jace said cheerfully.

"Can you bring me some steaks?" Alec asked awkwardly. He was not sure how he would explain the request without telling Jace that Magnus was not alright.

"Steaks?" Jace repeated amusedly.

"Yeah."

"Anything else?"

"Maybe some potatoes?" Alec shrugged.

"Just tell me something first," Jace demanded, the amusement gone from his voice. "The two of you aren’t still fighting because of the protocol thing, right? Because it’s messed up if he is refusing to feed you after the night we had."

"He’s not refusing to feed me." Alec rolled his eyes. "We are not fighting."

"Okay then. I’ll be there right away."

"Thank you."

Alec turned off the call, then googled how to make a martini. He looked down at his phone and sighed. He had no idea which type of martini Magnus liked. 

He got back to the living room, and sat on the edge of the couch where Magnus was, caressing his cheek delicately, he asked; "What type of martini?"

Magnus chuckled weakly. "I can make it," he replied, moving to get up.

"No," Alec said firmly, pushing him back down. "I just need to know how you like it, I’ll learn how to make it for you."

"Okay," Magnus murmured, looking up at Alec with half-opened eyes. "I like it with gin, not vodka. Five parts gin and one part dry vermouth. Stirred, not shaken."

"And an olive?" Alec asked just for confirmation.

"And an olive." Magnus smiled tiredly.

"Okay." Alec got up and went to the drink cart to start working on the martini as he waited for Jace to bring the steaks. He found everything he needed except ice in the cart, and the recipe he found online was extremely helpful.

When the doorbell rang, Alec was confident his first attempt at a martini was at least passable.

He opened the door and stood in the way so Jace wouldn’t be able to come inside, he knew Magnus wouldn’t want Jace to see him depleted. Alec took the containers Jace was holding and thanked him, already moving to close the door, when Jace stopped it with his foot.

"Oh, so I’m good enough to bring you dinner, but not good enough to go into your home and eat with you?" Jace asked jokingly, quirking an eyebrow. "I see, I see. Now that you are married, suddenly you don’t want my company anymore."

"Stop being dramatic," Alec said, rolling his eyes. "I just want to have a quiet dinner with my husband."

"Alright." Jace shrugged unconcerned. "Just don’t understand why I had to bring you food, doesn’t hubby always summon all your meals?"

"I wanted to do something for him." Alec blushed a little. "He is always taking care of me."

Jace looked at him intently for a few seconds, then nodded. "Good. Take care of the hubby. It’s good to see that this is working."

Alec rolled his eyes again. "It’s been working since the beginning. I don’t know why you are always so suspicious of Magnus."

"I’m not suspicious of him," Jace protested. "I just want to make sure you are treated right."

"He treats me right," Alec declared sincerely. "More than right even. I just wanted to take care of him a little bit tonight."

Jace narrowed his eyes, looking from the food containers to Alec suspiciously. "Are you pretending that you cooked this?"

Alec snorted. "No. I’d have cooked if we had any food in the kitchen. I made him a martini though."

"Are you sure that’s wise?" Jace chuckled. "It’s a known fact that Lightwoods can’t cook, unless you want food poisoning that is."

"Ha ha." Alec replied humorless. "Are you done?"

"No." Jace grinned cheekily. "Explain me something, if you don’t have food home, how do you eat when Magnus is not around to summon you stuff?"

"I don’t," Alec muttered embarrassed, avoiding Jace’s eyes. "I usually spend the whole day at the Institute anyway, and Magnus always summons our dinner."

"That is ridiculous," Jace snorted. "You know that, right?"

"I know," Alec groaned, running his hand through his hair and finding it grimmy, he really needed a shower. "I’ll talk to him about getting food."

Jace shook his head, laughing at Alec. "See you in the morning," he said, before turning around and going down the stairs.

Alec chuckled to himself, watching as Jace walked away. He had always known that Jace was overprotective, he had seen him being protective over Izzy and Max through the years, but even though they were _ parabatai _ and had promised to be at each other’s sides for the rest of their lives, he had never thought it would apply to him too. Maybe Jace just never had a reason to be overprotective of Alec before.

He went back to the kitchen and plated the steaks and potatoes as best as he could. They weren’t even close to as succulent as the steaks Magnus usually summoned for them were, they looked a little gray and sad in comparison to the stuff Magnus usually ate, and he was pretty sure Magnus wouldn’t like the Institute’s seasoning. But it was the best Alec could do in the middle of the night in such short notice. It would have to do.

Maybe he really should talk to Magnus about stocking the kitchen, or maybe he should do it himself, or he could ask Maryse to add some stuff for him on her grocery list for the Institute. And learn how to cook wouldn’t be a waste of time either, he should learn at least the basics for this kind of situation. He took the plates to the dining table, and helped Magnus from the couch to a chair.

"These look—" Magnus hesitated, narrowing his eyes as he used his fork to analyze a piece of the steak he had just cut. "Good?"

"A treat from the Institute’s finest cooks," Alec said apprehensively.

Magnus took a bite of the steak and grimaced. "They should stick to demon hunting."

"It was the best I could do," Alec confessed, looking down at his plate, feeling bad for not being able to take care of Magnus as well as Magnus took care of him.

"I’m sorry," Magnus sighed. "It’s honestly not that bad," he added, taking another bite. Then he took a sip of the martini and grinned. "And the martini is good."

"Internet helped." Alec shrugged, eating his steak. 

He kind of agreed with Magnus. After the amazing food Magnus was always summoning for them, the Institute’s food was lacking in a lot of ways. But he knew the reason for that. Their food was meant to sustain and give energy, it was not supposed to be a pleasurable experience. It was a little sad, Alec knew, but it was the best they could do when cooking for so many people at the same time, there was no time for them to cater to specific tastes.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Alec asked when they finished eating.

Magnus looked at him for a few seconds, before shaking his head. "I’ll take a bath before going to bed. I would invite you to join me so we could go back to what we were doing earlier, and I really want to get back to it, don’t get me wrong—" He yawned. "But I’m really tired, and I’d rather be completely awake the first time I get to have you like that. I want to be able to make it special."

"Me too," Alec agreed quickly, making Magnus chuckle. Magnus was right, Alec was exhausted, his back was hurting, and Magnus was still pale and shaky.

"You have no idea how much I want you," Magnus said in a husky voice that made a shiver go up Alec’s spine.

Suddenly Alec was not so sure he wanted to wait for them to be completely awake. "Magnus—" Alec said in a warning tone.

Magnus chuckled, but didn’t tease Alec anymore. He protested a little when Alec insisted on helping him walk to the bathroom, but Alec saw his smile when he turned to leave Magnus alone.

While Magnus was on his bath, Alec took a shower in the other bathroom, making quick work of the hard-on Magnus’ husky voice had given him, and got ready to sleep.

It didn’t take long for Magnus to get to bed after him. He snuggled closer to Alec’s side, resting his head on Alec’s chest, and sighing contently.

"I’m sorry I’m so tired," Magnus murmured, nuzzling Alec’s neck.

"It’s okay," Alec whispered, running his fingers through Magnus’ hair. "I’m tired too."

Alec stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about how things had gone down. If the rift hadn’t been opened they would’ve had sex tonight. He forced his mind away from what could have happened and focused on what had happened.

He knew Warlocks could have their magic depleted if they used too much in one go. But he had no idea how much was too much. Closing the rift obviously had taken a great amount of magic, but what about everything else? How much magic did it take to open portals, or heal people? How many portals would it take for Magnus to get depleted? How many wards, or potions, or spells? How much magic could Magnus safely use without hurting himself?

"What would have happened if you had stopped to heal Alison?" Alec murmured, pulling Magnus closer, needing the reassurance that Magnus was alright.

"I would’ve probably passed out closing the rift, and you’d have to call another Warlock to finish it," Magnus admitted, and sighed.

"You were upset," Alec stated, running his hand up and down Magnus’ back.

"I was, I don’t like watching people suffering when I know I can help them."

"I don’t like it either," Alec said tiredly. "But we knew there was something happening inside the warehouse and—"

"I understand why you didn’t want me to heal her, Alexander," Magnus interrupted him. "I’m sorry I was upset."

"It’s okay," Alec murmured, burying his nose on Magnus’ hair, getting ready to sleep. "Thank you for coming with me and helping today, we couldn’t have done it without you."


	13. Chapter 13

Magnus was sound asleep, hugging Alec’s pillow, when Alec left for the Institute the next day.

Maryse gave him reports on everybody that had been injured the night before as soon as he walked into the command center, like Jace had told him, other than Alison, everyone was already up and running.

Alec had a huge pile of reports on his desk when he entered his office, but he left them for after he finished his own report. He had to write down his account of events without being influenced by what the others had written. When he finished it, he went to the infirmary to check on Alison.

She was awake and her skin was slowly getting back to normal. She told him that other than the inicial burning feeling when the fire demon attacked her, she hadn’t felt anything. That helped put him at ease. Alec hadn’t felt guilt for leaving her behind, it was their job and he knew she could understand it, but it was still good to know she hadn’t been in pain the whole time.

Maryse found him at the command center a while later. She needed him to approve the adjustments she had to do to the month’s budget after having to replenish their medical supplies. Alec was going over the budget with her, when he saw his father coming in from the Institute’s entrance.

Robert looked at Alec and, for a moment, Alec thought he was going to come talk to him. Then his father hesitated and walked away toward the residential wing.

"Does dad have a problem with me?" Alec asked his mother, still staring at Robert’s retreating back.

Maryse sighed, following Alec’s eyes to where Robert was about to turn the corner. "No, Alec. Believe me, it has nothing to do with you."

"What is it then?" Alec asked, frowning. "He’s always avoiding me lately."

"He is always avoiding me," Maryse stated firmly. "He ends up avoiding you because I’m always close to you when you are here."

"What happened?" Alec asked, turning back to look at his mother’s sad eyes, feeling confused.

"Our marriage was never the happiest in the world, but we used to understand each other, and that was good enough." Maryse shook her head, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "We lost our footing after we were demoted. There was a lot of past hurt and resentment that we never quite addressed through the years."

"Are you getting a divorce?" Alec asked quietly.

"Not for now, I don’t think so." Maryse took a deep breath. "Communication is the base of any healthy relationship, Alec. Your father and I stopped communicating a while ago, and now we don’t know how to talk to each other anymore. If you want your marriage to be better than mine, talk to your husband, don’t bottle up your feelings."

Alec nodded. It wasn’t what he expected of this conversation. He had thought his father had a problem with him being obvious about how much he liked Magnus in front of everybody. He had been prepared to confront his father and tell him that if he didn’t like that Alec was happy in his marriage then Alec didn’t need his approval. 

He had never imagined that his parents were the ones not happy in their marriage. 

They had always seemed like a unity. Always on the same page when it came to Alec and his siblings, always working in syntony with each other back when they were running the Institute. He had never seen them fighting or even disagreeing.

Alec knew how much image and propriety were important for them. So he wondered how much of what he saw of their relationship was just a show they put up to keep appearances. Certainly things couldn’t have gotten this bad in just a couple of months.

There was something else he took from his conversation with his mother. Alec thought he and Magnus had been communicating well enough in the past two months, but he wondered if he was wrong. Magnus had kept the extent of his magic depletion from him the night before, even when Alec asked him discreetly if he was okay. So maybe he was wrong.

He knew he trusted Magnus, but now he was not sure if Magnus trusted him. It was a weird feeling. Alec felt like Magnus knew everything there was to know about him, but he didn’t know all that much about Magnus. He didn’t even know Magnus’ history with Maryse and Robert, and how they met years ago, he just knew it was something bad.

Alec sighed, getting back to work. He wished he knew how to address those things with Magnus without sounding confrontational.

Magnus called him after lunch with news about the Warlock that had opened the rift. As Magnus had imagined, it had been a summoning gone wrong. Apparently, the Warlock was young and was just getting to understand his powers, never having had someone to teach him about the Shadow World before. He had been trying to find out where he had come from.

"He’ll stay at the Spiral Labyrinth for a while learning about his powers and everything else," Magnus told him, sounding worn out.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked with concern. He should have asked earlier, or stayed home a little longer to check if Magnus was feeling better, instead of running to work first thing in the morning, he thought regretfully.

"I’m great," Magnus sighed deeply. "It’s just a little sad when something like this happens. This young Warlock never had anyone to take care of him and teach him, and then he almost got himself killed trying to find a connection."

Alec didn’t think he would ever be able to understand what that felt like, but he gathered Magnus did. He didn’t know much about Magnus’ past and childhood, but he hoped he had someone there to make sure he was okay and protect him from the world. He sighed. From what he knew of Warlocks, that was not likely.

He wanted to know more about Magnus’ past and what he had been through, but he didn’t know how to ask, or how to talk about those things, he knew he couldn’t just demand it from Magnus, that would be insensitive and confrontational, and he definitely didn’t want to end up upsetting Magnus with his lack of tact.

Alec tried to keep his parents growing apart from each other and young Warlocks looking for connection away from his mind, and to focus on work for the rest of the day, but it wasn’t exactly easy.

He was almost ready to leave, when Izzy came by the office. She looked healthier and steadier than the last time he had seen her the night before.

"Where were you all day?" He asked when she threw herself on the chair in front of his desk.

"Had a paper due at the University, can’t exactly tell them a Demon spiked me last night, can I?" Izzy sighed. "Full time student and full time hunter is not all that easy."

"What about your Seelie studies?" Alec questioned, raising an eyebrow to her.

"I’m doing well," Izzy said, tilting her head a little. "Meliorn forgave me for snapping at him and we talked a lot about the different cultural expectations when it comes to relationships. And the books Magnus lended me are helping too. It’s really fascinating how different we can be from them."

"And you and Meliorn?"

"We are still seeing each other." Izzy shrugged with a small self-satisfied smile. "But now we are both on the same page. It’s casual, and open, and free, and fun."

"Are you— hm— being careful?" Alec stuttered, blushing a little.

"Yes, big brother, I am using protection, thank you for asking," she replied cheekly. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"How are you and Magnus doing?" She asked, showing some concern. "The two of you were a little snappy at each other last night."

"It was a tense situation," Alec explained. "And it was our first time— hm— on the field together." Alec blushed a little, his mind going to inappropriate places as he said the words ‘first time’. Izzy didn’t fail to notice, and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Alec." Izzy’s eyes sparkled with interest. "Did you have another first time last night?"

Alec blushed even more, and covered his face with a hand. "No— Yes— Almost," he stuttered.

"What does almost even mean?" Izzy squealed, laughing loudly.

"We were— We were going to— And then the phone rang," Alec explained, feeling embarrassed.

"Damn!"

Alec took the hand from his face to look at her. She was highly amused, much more than Alec thought his not-first time was worth.

"Was it going to be your first time with a man?"

Alec stared at her seriously.

"Your first time ever?" She asked, opening her mouth wide. Far more surprised than he would have imagined, considering she had always known he didn’t like women. "It all makes sense now! That’s why you didn’t want me to meet Jessica Hawkblue!"

Alec stared at her in disbelief, widening his eyes a little.

"Wait, was there ever a Jessica Hawkblue?"

"Are you done?" Alec asked, furrowing his brow.

"Sorry," Izzy said, biting her lower lip to contain her laughter. "I’m happy for you, Alec," she said earnestly a moment later.

"There are some things that I’m worried about," he confessed to her, averting his eyes.

Izzy reached across the table for his hand. "Tell me," she said in a more serious tone.

"I feel like there is a lot of things that I don’t know about him," Alec sighed. "And I don’t know if he trusts me, and—"

"Do you trust him?" She interrupted him firmly.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation.

"So stop overthinking things!" Izzy exclaimed, joggling his hand. "He is at least four hundred years old, and it has been two months since you met, he will tell you things on his own time, when he feels comfortable or when it’s relevant. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t trust you."

Alec gave her a lopsided grin. Of course she was right. She had always been better with people and emotions than him. And he knew he tended to overthink things. If he were to be honest, he was probably a little anxious over how things would turn out tonight.

Magnus was waiting in the living room, when Alec got home. He smiled brightly, and that was more than enough for Alec to throw away all his anxiety. He strode to Magnus, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and kissed him deeply.

Magnus pulled his face back a little to look at Alec, and grinned. "Hi."

"Hi," Alec whispered, leaning in to kiss Magnus again, taking his hands from Magnus’ collar to his waist pulling him closer and lifting his shirt a little, his hands trembling as he caressed the hard muscles on Magnus’ back.

Magnus pulled Alec’s shirt up, and Alec moaned when he had to take his lips from Magnus’ to take the shirt off. Then he crushed their bodies back together as he guided Magnus to their bedroom, stumbling a little on the furniture and on the walls.

Magnus’ hands were all over his body, making Alec shiver as they reached the bedroom. Alec tripped out of his shoes and threw himself on the bed, pulling Magnus on top of him.

Magnus was kissing his neck and rolling their hips together, making pleasure fire through Alec’s body. He pulled Magnus’ shirt up to gain better access to his hard abs, when suddenly Magnus grunted and pulled away, turning his back to Alec.

Alec froze.

He didn’t know what he could’ve done wrong, he thought everything was good. Seeing Magnus tensing up and pulling away was confusing.

"What— Am I doing something wrong?" Alec asked self-consciously as he raised himself a little from the bed to try to look at Magnus properly.

"No such thing," Magnus chuckled lightly, his back still turned to Alec.

"Do you not want to?" Alec asked breathless.

Was he pressuring Magnus into it? He hadn’t asked if Magnus wanted to do it right now, but he was pretty sure they had been in the same page. Maybe Magnus had changed his mind? Alec's mind was in a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions, he didn't know what to do, or how to react.

"No— I mean— Yes, of course I do," Magnus sighed, confusing Alec even more; that didn’t sound like Magnus was certain of what he wanted.

Maybe they should talk about what they were doing. Maybe Alec shouldn’t have jumped Magnus the second he got home without giving him an opportunity to say no.

He sat up on the bed, placing his hand lightly on Magnus’ back, and asked; "Magnus, what is it?"

"It’s just— Sometimes—" Magnus hesitated, before turning to Alec with his eyes closed. "I lose control," he said, opening his eyes, and taking Alec’s breath away.

The eyes. The golden-green, slitted, cat eyes Alec had caught a glimpse of for only a second before, during their wedding. Those beautiful fascinating eyes stared into his.

Alec took a sharp breathe extending a trembling hand to touch Magnus’ face. He smiled, looking at how beautiful Magnus was, how perfect he was. "Magnus— They are beautiful," Alec declared with adoration. "You are beautiful," he added as Magnus smiled, and leaned in to get back from where they had stopped.

* * *

Alec looked up at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath, a smile refusing to leave his lips. His mind still blistifully empty. It had been perfect, more than perfect. Alec had no words to describe what he had felt and was still feeling.

Magnus’ body was pressed by his side, his head resting on Alec’s shoulder as Alec ran his hand up and down Magnus’ back, needing to keep touching and caressing for a little longer.

He turned to the side a little, dislodging Magnus’ head from his shoulder. He wanted to look at Magnus. Look at his magnificent eyes. His gorgeous face.

"Why do you hide them?" Alec whispered, raising his hand to caress Magnus’ face, staring into his golden-green cat eyes with fascination. "They are so beautiful."

"Many Warlocks hide their marks, it's not unusual, Alexander," Magnus murmured.

"At our wedding all the others were showing their marks except you," Alec remembered distractedly, still transfixed by Magnus’ eyes.

He had thought it was strange back at the wedding, but then never had the chance to think about it again.

"I only saw a glimpse of them during our bonding, and I remember thinking they were stunning, and that they made you even more perfect than you already are."

Magnus smiled at him fondly, leaning in for a quick peck on the lips.

"It’s a little complicated."

"Oh, okay," Alec murmured, taking his hand off Magnus’ face, feeling like he was pushing too hard just like he had promised himself he wouldn’t do. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No!" Magnus blurted out, reaching for Alec’s hand and holding it firmly. "I will tell you. Just give me a minute to put my thoughts in order."

Alec nodded and waited while Magnus thought about what he was going to say.

"Most Warlocks are born with their marks, their mothers know that they are not Mundanes as soon as possible, and then they usually make a decision, they either keep the babies and raise them and love them, or they don't," Magnus said glumly.

Alec swallowed dry, he knew what happened to the abandoned Warlock babies nowadays. But he couldn’t imagine how things worked four hundred years back, or more, when Magnus himself was a baby. Something fierce and protective groaned on his chest, and he squeezed Magnus' hand.

"That’s what happened to Catarina and Ragnor, they were born with colourful skin, and their mothers hid them until they learned how to hide their marks, they were loved and cared for, despite of their origins. They were lucky."

"That's not what happened to you," Alec whispered, feeling a lump on his throat.

Magnus shook his head, looking up at the ceiling. "In a way I was lucky too, my eyes didn’t change until I was eight," Magnus sighed. "And then my mother couldn’t pretend there wasn’t something wrong with me anymore. At least I was old enough to survive on my own, that’s better than what happens to most of my people."

"There is nothing wrong with you," Alec declared, pulling Magnus back into his arms. "You are perfect."

Magnus nodded, and scooched closer to Alec, burying his face on Alec's neck, looking lost in thought. 

Alec still had a lot of questions about Magnus’ mother, and how he had grown up, but he didn’t want to pressure Magnus anymore tonight. He figured Magnus would explain things better if he wanted to.

He hugged Magnus tighter. Trying to convey what he still didn’t quite had the words to explain, but was starting to.


	14. Chapter 14

"You are cheery," Jace declared with a smirk, walking into Alec’s office and throwing himself on his usual chair, the next morning.

"Am I?" Alec replied, trying to hide the smile that wouldn’t leave his face since he woke up that morning.

"Oh yeah," Jace grinned. "Last night was— hm— Interesting," he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Jace," Alec said dismayed, feeling his face getting hotter.

Jace raised his hands in a surrender gesture. "I didn’t tell anyone, I’m just here for the deets."

"I’m not telling you!" Alec blurted out a little outraged.

"Why not? You gave me the deets on Jessica Hawkblue."

"That’s— That’s different," Alec stuttered, by now he was pretty sure his face was bright red.

"Because Magnus actually exists?" Jace asked with a self-satisfied smirk.

Alec gawped at Jace with widened eyes. "How did— Did Izzy tell you—" he babbled flabbergasted.

"Izzy didn’t have to tell me anything." Jace rolled his eyes. "Last night I realized that you either never had sex before, or your time with Jessica Hawkblue was really miserable. And since I’ve never actually met the elusive Jessica, I decided to bet on the first option."

Alec groaned, covering his face with his hands. Of course Jace would notice it. He remembered quite clearly the first time Jace had sex. Their bond had exploded with feelings of excitement and satisfaction. Obviously it wasn’t physical. Like everything else he felt through the bond, the feelings were somewhat removed, like they were there and weren’t at the same time. But it was still pretty intense.

"Can I ask you something?" Jace inquired after a little while. Alec still had his face on his hands, so he just nodded. "All those times you said you had crushes on girls, were any of those real?"

Alec sighed and took his hands away from his face. Jace didn’t look like he was about to laugh at Alec, so he decided to be honest. "I never felt anything for any girl in my life."

"So, you are gay, like, full gay?" Jace asked evenly.

"Yeah—" Alec nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, I’m pretty gay."

"Okay," Jace said with a half smile.

"I thought it was obvious after I married Magnus," Alec said in a questioning tone.

"Oh well, it was." Jace shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to know how much you had been keeping from me through the years." He bit his lip, looking up at Alec with slightly sad eyes.

"I’m sorry I lied," Alec said, averting his eyes, feeling guilty.

"We already talked about it," Jace cut him with a dismissive hand gesture before he could say anything else. "I didn’t come here to make you feel all guilty and upset. I just wanted to be supportive and all that."

"You are," Alec declared, looking into Jace’s eyes earnestly. "You are the best _ parabatai _ anyone could ever ask for."

Jace grinned as they looked into each other’s eyes for a couple of seconds, then his smile turned into a smirk. "So, will you tell me if you are a top or a bottom?"

"Jace!" Alec exclaimed horrified, making Jace burst into laughter.

* * *

Alec and Magnus explored a lot during that week. As expected, Magnus had a lot to teach him, Alec discovered things about his body that he had never known before, even with all his training.

It wasn’t only physical things, though. Magnus started to open up more. He told Alec more about his mother, in vague terms, but enough for Alec to understand what had happened, then he talked about the Silent Brothers from Madrid that raised him after his mother died. In return, Alec told him about growing up at the Institute and having to take care of his siblings since a young age to help his parents.

He didn’t think they were opening up more to each other because of the sex, Alec was pretty sure it was because he had seen Magnus’ Warlock mark and had still wanted him and cared for him in the same way. It was like some kind of barrier Magnus had built up around him had been broken.

They were at the Institute a week later, Magnus had come by to see Alec, before leaving for a meeting with the High Warlock Council of America.

"Have fun," Alec murmured, kissing Magnus softly, at the entrance of the Institute.

"As if that was possible," Magnus snorted. "These meetings are always boring and endless. I’d much rather stay home with you."

Alec hummed his agreement, giving Magnus another kiss, when the door opened behind them. They raised their heads at the same time to see who had walked in, and Alec immediately slipped into his Head of the Institute mode.

Jace and Izzy were completely disheveled. Their gear was covered in ichor and their clothes were torn in several places. Izzy whined at Alec, before walking away quickly, probably to wash the ichor out of her hair.

"What happened?" Alec asked, running his eyes through Jace, looking for injuries. He knew Jace wouldn’t be badly hurt, or he would’ve felt it, but he could still be scratched, and having ichor on open wounds was dangerous.

"I’m fine," Jace said with a dismissive hand wave. "Just some miscalculations, honestly. Who knew cutting a demon from beneath it would drench you in ichor?" He said it like it was something completely unexpected.

"I knew it," Alec stated appalled, gesturing with his hands. "Everyone with an inch of discernment knew it!"

"Oh, well." Jace rolled his eyes at Alec. "I’ll need a new jacket." He shrugged, raising a handful of shreds of leather to show Alec.

Alec groaned in annoyance, already thinking about including a new leather jacket for Jace on his shopping list, when Magnus, who had been quietly observing them, made a sudden movement. 

"What is that?" He asked, getting closer to Jace, and moving his torned shirt away from his left shoulder. "Have you always had this?"

Jace frowned and looked down at what Magnus was staring at, it was a scar Alec vaguely remembered Jace having since he first came to New York.

"Why?" Jace asked, looking up at Magnus warily.

"Humor me," Magnus said, eyes still focused on the scar. "Do you remember where it came from?"

"No, it has always been there," Jace said, raising his eyebrows to Alec questioningly.

Alec shrugged, he had no idea what was going on.

"A birthmark then," Magnus sighed and brought his fingers to his forehead, rubbing it firmly. "A star shaped birthmark on your left shoulder."

"And?" Alec asked, getting closer to take a better look at the scar, it really had the shape of a star, he had never noticed before.

"I think you need a blood test," Magnus stated, taking his hand from his face to stare into Jace’s eyes seriously. "I don’t think Michael Wayland was your biological father."

Jace’s body tensed up immediately. "What?" He hissed, his eyes going wild as he jumped back, putting his hands in front of him as if he was ready to stop anyone from getting any closer. "What are you talking about?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Jace’s confusion and anger hit Alec like a punch to the stomach. He felt the tension that preceded a fight coming from Jace as he prepared himself for a confrontation, and the bond pushed Alec into doing the same.

"Jace," Alec called in warning, focusing in calm feelings and trying to send them to Jace, but his own confusion wasn’t helping much. "Listen to him before you react," he said beggingly. "Magnus?"

They needed an explanation, and they needed it fast. Jace’s whole body was trembling with tension, and Alec felt his body getting rigid too, he started having trouble separating his feelings from Jace’s, they both being confused making it even worse, and their hearts were starting to synch as if they were about to get into a fight.

"Look, I’m not trying to make you doubt what you know about yourself and the man who raised you, trust me, I believe family is much more than the blood that run through our veins," Magnus said calmingly, raising his hands placatingly, without breaking eye contact with Jace. "But if that is a birthmark, then there is more to your story than you know so far. And I think you have the right to know it."

Jace seemed to be considering Magnus’ words, he relaxed his posture slightly, releasing some of the tension Alec was feeling. "What do you know?" He asked apprehensively.

"Many years ago I met a Shadowhunter who had this same star shaped mark on this exact place," Magnus said in a calm tone. "I know that through the years, all his direct male descendants were born with the same mark. That’s the reason I think you need a blood test."

"Who?" Jace’s voice was trembling. "Who did you know that had this mark?"

"A friend," Magnus said, closing his eyes for a moment, and taking a deep breath. "Will Herondale."

"Herondale? You think I’m a Herondale?" Jace snorted in disbelief, shaking his head. "This has to be a joke, you have to be kidding me."

"I wish I could tell you it’s a joke, but it’s not," Magnus said seriously, locking eyes with Jace again. "You don’t need to trust my word for it. The world evolved a lot in these last few decades, a simple blood test will tell us if I’m right."

"I— I don’t—" Jace hesitated, turning to Alec looking lost. Alec could feel dread and despair flooding the bond. "I don’t know."

"It’s just a blood test, Jace, it won’t change anything," Alec said, walking to Jace and placing a hand on his shoulder to ground both of them. "Whatever your blood says, you know who you are."

"Okay," Jace exhaled sharply. "Okay, how do we do this?"

Some of the fear Alec could feel coming from Jace turned into determination. Alec knew Jace well enough to guess what he was thinking. He was probably convinced that the blood test would prove Magnus wrong, that the shape of the scar was a coincidence or something. But Alec was not so sure.

"I’ll contact the Inquisitor and request a blood test," Alec said thoughtfully. He couldn’t tell the Inquisitor he thought Jace could be related to her, that would be complicated, and if they were wrong they would be accused of all sorts of things.

Alec exchanged a look with his husband. Magnus was so sure of it. So certain. And Alec trusted him. If Magnus was saying Jace had to be related to this Will Herondale, then Jace was related to Will Herondale. Suddenly, Alec remembered their wedding reception, when Magnus had said Jace reminded him of someone.

"Would Inquisitor Herondale know about the birthmark?" Alec asked Magnus, without releasing his grip on Jace’s shoulder. "Would she know that you knew this Will Herondale?"

Magnus nodded. "I’m quite sure she does."

"Alright," Alec said, biting the inside of his mouth. "I’ll tell her that you saw a Shadowhunter with the mark, and that you told me about this Will Herondale. That way I won’t be lying. But I won’t tell her it’s Jace, not until after the blood test."

"It’s best this way," Magnus agreed slowly, seeming lost in thought.

Alec turned back to Jace and saw him nodding his agreement, his emotions were all over the place, but what came through more clearly was fear.

"Who was it?" Alec asked after a second, keeping his eyes on Jace’s. "At our wedding you told me that Jace reminded you of someone, but that you couldn’t remember who, do you remember now?"

Magnus sighed deeply. "Stephen Herondale, the Inquisitor’s son, I met him very briefly some years ago."

Alec felt that Magnus was not telling him everything, but didn’t ask. For all he knew Magnus could be keeping whatever it was from Jace and not from him.

"Okay, I’ll go send her a message then." Alec took his hand from Jace’s shoulder, but didn’t walk away. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"I don’t know," Jace murmured, looking up at Alec with wide eyes, like he expected Alec to have all the answers.

Magnus took a sample of Jace’s blood magically and gave Alec the vial, before leaving for his meeting, looking at Jace apologetically. Jace went to his bedroom still looking lost and sending confused feelings through their bond. And Alec braced himself to talk to Imogen Herondale.

He had no idea what he was supposed to do if she didn’t believe him. Or even how he was supposed to approach that kind of conversation. Alec felt weighted down, whatever happened next, he didn’t think things would ever go back to normal.

Inquisitor Herondale barely allowed him to finish explaining before she started demanding to meet the Shadowhunter with the mark immediately. Just as Magnus had said, she knew about the mark and got completely incoherent once Alec told her about it. It was a weird sight, the always strong and stoic woman demanding that Alec tell her who it was with a rather crazed look on her face.

Alec used his best reasoning with his most calming voice to convince her that the best thing was for them to do the blood test before approaching the Shadowhunter. He told her that the Shadowhunter believed someone else was his father, and that she would end up scaring him away if she came on too strongly.

It wasn’t a lie, even if it wasn’t completely honest. Jace was back at his room trying to process it right that second. But the Inquisitor didn’t need to know that.

Alec was wrecked after his conversation with her. He sent Jace’s blood to Alicante, then tried to focus on the reports in front of him to no avail.

All the tension building up on his body, added to the tiredness of the day’s work, and the feelings he was getting from Jace’s side of the bond, had given him a pounding headache and put him in a terrible mood. He snapped at more than one hunter that had came by the office to ask for something. He had planned to work late since Magnus wouldn’t be home, but he couldn’t stay at the Institute any longer, he needed to go home and get away from everything.

Before leaving, he went by Jace’s bedroom to check on him and found a mess. Jace was never messy. He had always been freakishly organized, and his need to have things in the right order bordered on OCD. The books scattered around the floor covered in clothes spilling from his closet and the turned mattress were an alarming representation of the turmoil that was going on inside him.

Jace was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, looking down at his trembling hands, still disheveled and covered in ichor from the hunt.

Alec approached him carefully. "I’m going home," he murmured, crouching down to look into Jace’s hazy eyes. "Will you be alright?"

Jace nodded jerkly, and Alec swallowed dry. He didn’t know what to do with Jace like that. It was too similar to the first few months Jace lived in New York with them, when he was a scared, standoffish, little boy who thought he had to be strong the whole time, even when he was broken by his father’s death.

Alec remembered the times when he used to find Jace training in the middle of the night, fighting off tears. He remembered the first time Jace admitted he was scared Maryse and Robert would send him away if he wasn’t a good enough soldier. He remembered how afraid Jace had been of not belonging in the New York Institute, and in the Lightwood family.

They were painful memories, back then, Jace didn’t seem to know how to show or receive affection. It was only under Alec’s and Izzy’s insistence that he started to understand that he had a place there, that they were family. And now Alec was afraid Jace would go back to being that little boy.

He was readying himself to stand up, when Jace grabbed his arm like it was a lifeline, looking up to Alec with lost, sorrowful eyes. And Alec decided that he couldn't leave him alone, not for now.

"Do you want to come home with me?" He whispered, and Jace nodded, holding on to Alec’s arm with a firm grip. "Come one," Alec said, pulling him up. "Go take a shower and change, I’ll—" Alec hesitated, looking around at the mess. "I’ll tide up your room a little, okay?"

Jace nodded again, and went to his bathroom.

Alec took a deep breath and rubbed his temples, trying to placate his headache, before he put the mattress back in place, and started to collect clothes and books from the floor.

Jace didn’t take long in the shower. When he came out of the bathroom he was a little more responsive, but still distant and lost inside his head.

Alec had never been the best with dealing with other people’s feelings, but he did his best to sound calming and supportive as they went to the loft. Chairman ran to him as soon as he walked inside, headbutting Alec’s leg, asking to be petted. Alec took off his shoes and jacket, put away his bow and quiver, then Alec crouched and picked Chairman up, while Jace just stood there, looking lost.

"Are you hungry?" Alec asked in an attempt to keep things normal. But Jace’s only answer was a shrug.

Alec went to the kitchen to find some snacks anyway.

"We actually have food now," Alec commented, opening a cupboard and grabbing a bag of chips. Jace hummed noncommittally, so Alec just kept talking. "I don’t think Magnus realised how unpractical it was that I couldn’t eat anything at home when he was not around to summon it. I think it’s a Warlock thing."

"Hm-hum."

Alec sighed. "Do you want a drink? My martinis are pretty decent now."

He mixed their drinks the way he had learned from Magnus, and they sat on the couch, watching some weird show about trucks on icy roads on TV. Jace didn’t talk much, but Alec felt through their bond that he was a little more calm, and that was good enough for now.

By the time Magnus got home, Jace was snoring on their couch, with Chairman sleeping on his chest, and Alec was reading one of Magnus’ books about Shadow World history.

"Everything okay?" Magnus murmured, eyeing Jace with a raised eyebrow.

"Couldn’t leave him alone," Alec replied in the same tone, raising a little from the couch to give Magnus a peck.

"Should I levitate him to the guest room?"

"I’ll take him," Alec said, then proceeded to guide a semi-awake Jace to their guest room, and help him into bed.

When he got to their bedroom Magnus was already in bed, waiting for him, and all Alec wanted was to hold Magnus and finally let go of all his worries.

* * *

Jace kept coming back home with Alec the next few days. He woke up early with Alec, and went to the Institute, only to spend the whole day punching a sandbag at the training room. Alec had to take him off patrol, he didn’t think Jace was in the right frame of mind to be responsible for himself or others.

They got the results from the blood test on the fourth day. As Jace read the results, Alec felt an explosion of aggressiveness coming from him. He threw the paper with the results to Alec and covered his face, groaning in a mixture of pain and anger.

Alec was not at all surprised to see that Jace was almost certainly Imogen’s grandson.

After that, all Jace wanted to do was punch something, so Alec grabbed his bow and quiver, and went with Jace on a hunt, allowing him to release all his built up rage on the demons, while Alec carefully covered his back.

By the time Jace was feeling a little better, it was almost dawn, they were both exhausted and grimmy, and neither of them objected as they walked back to Alec and Magnus’ loft.

"We’ll need to talk to mom and dad," Alec said tiredly, right before Jace disappeared inside the guest room.


	15. Chapter 15

Alec stayed in bed watching Magnus sleep for a few minutes after he woke up the next morning, Magnus always pouted a little on his sleep, and Alec thought that was the cutest thing in the world. When he got home a few hours earlier, Magnus had already been asleep, and now Alec had to go to the Institute and didn’t want to wake him up. He missed Magnus.

With Jace spending the nights in their apartment, Magnus and him hadn’t had any time alone together in the past few days. Magnus didn’t complain about it, but Alec noticed that he had been spending more nights out at Pandemonium than usual.

His _ parabatai _was hurting, he had to confront his parents, his marriage was suffering, and Alec had no idea how to make any of it better. All he wanted was to close his eyes, snuggle closer to Magnus, and stay in bed with him all day. But he couldn’t. Of course he couldn’t.

He caressed Magnus’ hair for a few more seconds, before giving him a kiss on the top of the head, and getting out of bed. Jace was already in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, waiting for him, from the bags under his eyes and the sour look on his face, Alec knew he hadn’t slept much.

When Alec and Jace got to the Institute, Alec logged in just to find twenty-three messages from Inquisitor Herondale demanding that he called her back. He knew it wasn’t a smart move, but he decided to ignore her and focus on getting an explanation from his parents first.

Alec did quick work of the more urgent paperwork on his desk with Jace sitting across from him on his usual chair, and as soon as he finished it, he summoned Maryse and Robert to the office. It was a weird feeling. Like their roles were reversed. He had never stopped to consider where he was supposed to draw the line between son and commander before.

"Do you think they knew?" Jace asked quietly. "Do you think they lied to me all these years?"

"I don’t know," Alec replied honestly. 

He really didn’t. Maybe before learning that their parents had been in the Circle he would have thought they could never lie about something this serious, but now he was not so sure.

"Robert was my father’s—" Jace grimaced. "Michael’s— His _ parabatai_," he said with frustration. "He had to know, right? I would know if you took someone else’s son and pretended to be yours!”

"I—" Alec sighed, he was not sure how he was supposed to answer. "Jace, their bond was not like ours," he said thoughtfully. "Dad told us how they were already growing apart even before Michael was exiled. I don’t know. I really don’t."

Jace sighed in frustration, running his fingers through his hair, and hunching over on his chair.

Robert and Maryse showed up a few minutes later. Alec could feel the tension between them as his mother looked from Jace to him questioningly, before she closed the door.

"Is everything alright?" Robert asked, staring at Alec with raised eyebrows.

"No," Alec said firmly, making both of his parents frown with concern. He looked at Jace, waiting to see if he’d want to take over the conversation, but Jace just gestured for him to go on. "Magnus noticed a birthmark on Jace’s shoulder and recommended that we requested a blood test, do any of you have an idea of what that blood test says?"

"What?" Robert took a step back, widening his eyes, his surprise and confusion seemed genuine, but Alec couldn’t be sure. "What are you talking about, Alec?"

"Jace?" Maryse looked at Jace with fear and confusion. Jace shook his head, looking away from them both. "Alec, what’s going on?" She questioned apprehensively.

"Jace has the Herondale birthmark," Alec stated, unwavering. "The blood test says he is a Herondale. Imogen believes he is Stephen’s son."

"Did you know?" Jace interrupted aggressively, raising his head. "Did you know Michael was not my real father?"

"No!" Maryse shook her head, looking lost, her eyes going from Jace to Alec and back. "No, that can’t be right."

"You are Michael’s son. You have to be!" Robert stated firmly, and Maryse nodded emphatically. "Michael— Michael was— He would never lie to me!"

Robert looked as confused and hurt as Jace had looked when Magnus first told them about the birthmark, his eyes locked on Jace like he was searching for something.

"We did a blood test," Alec said, observing his parents attentively. "Jace is Imogen’s grandson. Tell us the truth."

"We are telling the truth," Robert said disheartened.

"No, it doesn’t make any sense. Jace can’t be Celine’s son," Maryse said at the same time.

"Why?" Alec questioned, focusing on his mother, trying to find any signs of her being deceitful. "Why doesn’t it make sense?"

"We were there, Alec, we saw Jace hours after he was born. Elize had just died and we were there to help Michael with the baby," Maryse said, turning to Jace, looking shaken. "I saw Celine just a day after that, she had just found out she was pregnant."

"It was a long time ago, maybe you are confusing the dates?" Alec questioned, from their parents reactions he knew they had no idea beforehand. They were taken completely off guard.

"No," Maryse shook her head, her eyes getting a little glassy. "I remember it because Stephen had just died, I remember going to see Celine in the months after Michael’s baby was born, and bringing her things because she was so depressed and wasn’t eating..." Maryse trailed off as if lost in thoughts. "Michael’s boy was a few months old by the time Celine died."

Maryse covered her mouth with a hand, tears filling her eyes. Robert was still frozen staring at Jace. 

"I remember taking some of Alec’s baby clothes to Celine, she was maybe eight months pregnant, but didn’t have anything for the baby," Maryse whispered. "A few days later Valentine told us that she had been found mauled by Werewolves, and that they had eaten the baby. He said the baby was dead, he— We thought Celine’s baby was dead. We didn’t know."

A heavy silence covered the room, all of them lost in their own minds, trying to make sense of all of this. For Alec, nothing made sense. Everything was already confusing before talking to Maryse and Robert, but now things seemed worse.

"I’m younger then,” Jace said, looking down at his own hands and frowning. “I’m months younger than we thought?"

"If you are Celine’s baby you are about six months younger," Maryse nodded tearfully.

"How? How did my father— Michael— How did he get me?" Jace asked, looking pained, begging for an explanation from anyone who could give it, anything that could explain how this happened.

"Michael was a good man," Maryse declared, looking sideways at Robert who nodded his head slowly. "Maybe he found Celine and rescued you?"

Maryse’s explanation was kinder than anything Alec had came up with on his own. If that was it, and Michael had rescued Jace after Celine died, then he wouldn’t be a crazy person who killed a woman and stole her baby.

"But why lie?" Jace questioned, looking at Maryse with pleading eyes.

"Michael was very loving," Maryse said tentatively. "Maybe he got attached to you and didn’t want Imogen to take you away?"

Jace nodded. Alec could still feel his confused feelings, and the freezing despair that had been lingering to Jace since finding all of that out, but apparently Maryse’s kind explanation helped some of it settle inside him.

But Alec was not so sure Maryse’s explanation was the truth, something wasn't adding up.

"Jonathan," Robert said suddenly, finally taking his eyes from Jace, and looking more lost than anyone else. "What happened to Michael’s son?"

_That was it_, Alec realized. The part of the history that didn’t make any sense. What could have happened to the real Jonathan Wayland?

Jace looked down with a frown. Everything was so confusing. All the answers they got only brought up more questions, and the ones that could explain everything were all dead.

Alec called Imogen soon after his parents and Jace left his office, she was calmer than when he first told her about the birthmark and more able to understand how confusing this whole situation was for Jace. Alec gave her all the facts he was able to gather from his parents, but left out their feelings and Maryse’s theories.

Imogen was thankful to him and Magnus for bringing this to her attention and had theories of her own, none of them kind. And even though she was unwavering on her want to meet Jace as soon as possible, she agreed to respect Jace’s time.

His father came by the office some time later, asking to talk to him. Alec was a little wary of the look on Robert’s face, but gestured for him to sit down.

"I wasn’t completely honest to you and Jace about me and Michael," Robert said tensily.

"What else could you possible have to tell me now?" Alec asked, without hiding his frustration.

"It’s not—" Robert sighed. "It’s about Michael."

Alec stared at his father for a second, his shoulders looked tense and his brow was furrowed. He wondered if Robert was about to tell him that Michael was crazy and that was the real reason why they grew apart.

"Michael was kind," Robert said thoughtfully. "He befriended me even when everybody else thought I was useless, we were _ parabatai_." They locked eyes in understanding, and Alec nodded. "He didn’t— He had a lot of doubts about the Circle and Valentine, but he stayed, because of me, I think."

Robert raised his hand to his forehead and rubbed his temples, regret clear on his face. Alec observed his father attentively, he looked tired and lost, like he was not sure about how to say what he needed to.

"After Elize died he told me something—" Robert hesitated, averting Alec’s eyes. "He told me he had been in love with me for years."

Alec’s eyes widened, he got a freezing feeling in his stomach, he didn’t know what to say, how to react. That was definitely not what he had expected.

"I— It was wrong Alec," Robert murmured dejectedly.

"Because he was a man?" Alec asked, trembling, forgetting for a moment that they were having this conversation because of what happened to Jace, and not because of him.

"No— Yes— It’s complicated," Robert sighed, still avoiding Alec's eyes. "We were _ parabatai_, it’s wrong to feel those things for your _ parabatai_.” Alec nodded slowly, before Robert continued. "But yes. Back then, I got away from him because we were both men, I should have talked to him, and explained that I didn’t feel the same, and tried to work things out. I— I think about it, about all the things I should've done differently. I was harsher than I should, I rejected him, and then our bond weakened more and more until it was so weak that I couldn’t even feel his heartbeat anymore."

Alec shuddered, focusing on Jace’s heartbeat alongside his own for a moment, he couldn’t imagine not feeling it anymore, he couldn’t imagine the emptiness of not having it right there all the time.

Robert took a pained breath, looking lost inside his own head. "The day after the Uprising, I noticed that our bond had faded away."

Alec rubbed his face with his hands, his father had given him a lot to think about. But more than anything else, he couldn’t stop the feeling of hurt and pain of knowing that the reason Robert let his bond with Michael break was the same thing Alec had been so afraid of for so many years. He could imagine how Michael must have felt at being rejected, he could imagine how much worse it was that Robert didn’t try to understand or talk to him about it. He could imagine Michael’s pain.

"That was before Jace was born?" Alec asked, trying to bring his focus back to the important things.

"Are you sure he is Celine’s son?" Robert inquired.

"As sure as we can be at this point, we don’t have Celine’s DNA for comparison, but taking from the blood test and the birthmark he can only be Stephen’s son," Alec stated, he had discussed the same with Imogen for a long time earlier.

"Then yes, it happened before Jace was born, a couple of months after Jonathan Wayland was born," Robert said tiredly.

"Do you think he may have lost his mind?" Alec asked carefully.

"No," Robert said without hesitation. "Alec, it doesn’t matter how upset he was, he would never hurt anyone, he hated hurting people, he always hated it."

"What do you think happened then?"

"I don’t know," Robert sighed. "Maybe your mother is right and he found Celine dying and saved the baby, maybe something else entirely, I don’t know. But there is something wrong with this whole story, it doesn’t make any sense, it doesn’t sound like Michael. Our bond was weakened but I know him, and he would never hurt a child in any way."

Alec nodded, thinking about how his bond with Jace worked. He knew Jace, more than anyone else in the world, he knew what Jace was capable of, Alec knew his worst flaws and best qualities, he would know if Jace was capable of something like that, even a million years from now.

Robert looked lost in thought too. They hadn’t talked to each other in private for months, since before the wedding. Alec had wondered for a while if Robert had a problem with him due to his obvious feelings for Magnus, and now he had somewhat of a confirmation. He knew this was not the time to confront his father about it, but it had been bothering him for months, and now Robert was right there in front of him, telling him how he abandoned his _ parabatai _ for having feelings for a man.

"Are you ashamed of me?" Alec asked quietly, before he could stop himself.

"What?" Robert asked, raising his head in confusion.

"You got away from Michael because he liked men," Alec murmured as an explanation.

Robert swallowed dry, shaking his head slowly. "I regret it," he stated. "I lost a part of myself because I was too blind and closed off to stop and talk to Michael about it. I regret it everyday."

"You’ve been avoiding me," Alec whispered, feeling hurt.

"I’m sorry," Robert said earnestly. "I’m not ashamed of you, Alec. You did so much for our family, you have been doing such a good job as Head of the Institute. I’m proud of you."

"But you have a problem with me liking Magnus?"

"At first, maybe a little," Robert admitted reluctantly. "But I see how happy you are, and how much he seems to care for you, and that was all I ever wanted as a father, for you and your siblings to be happy."

Alec nodded slowly. His father might not be the most supportive, but he was at least quietly accepting, it was more than Alec expected. He couldn’t stop thinking about Michael for the rest of the day. Robert was so convinced there was something wrong with the whole story, but what could it be? What else was there that none of them knew?

When the day was finally over, and Alec was ready to go home, Jace was not around. He was pretty sure he hadn’t seen Jace since their talk with Robert and Maryse that morning. The feelings he was getting from Jace through their bond were the same as they had been in the past few days, but in the past few days Jace had been around Alec almost all the time. Not finding Jace now concerned him a little.

He asked for Jace around the command center, and was told that he had gone out with Izzy.

Alec walked home, feeling relieved, he knew Izzy would take care of Jace and call him if they needed anything. He smiled when he opened the door, and found Magnus home. They were finally going to be able to spend some time together.

"No Jace today?" Magnus asked from the couch, where he was petting Chairman and watching TV.

"Jace is out with Izzy tonight," Alec replied, leaning down to give Magnus a kiss.

"Oh, you mean maybe Jace later?" Magnus smiled tightly.

Alec knew it must have been hard for Magnus lately, with someone else in their home, and Alec having even less time for their relationship. But he couldn't abandon his _ parabatai_, not now, not ever. And even though Magnus was extremely important for him, and Alec loved being married to him, if Magnus couldn’t deal with Jace, their relationship wouldn’t work.

"If it's better for you I can stay at the Institute for a while. But I won't leave him alone while he needs me."

"And I wouldn’t ask you to," Magnus said quickly, raising his hand in a placating gesture. "But I do miss spending time alone with you."

Alec sighed and sat on the couch, snuggling close to Magnus. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"It's okay, he needs you, I understand that," Magnus sighed, placing his arm behind Alec’s back, and running his fingers through Alec’s hair.

"He's having so much trouble wrapping his head around it. It's all so confusing," Alec said, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

Magnus kissed Alec’s temple, and got up from the couch. He looked lost in thought as he mixed a couple of drinks for them.

"What's on your head?" Alec asked, observing Magnus expectantly as he resumed his position embracing Alec.

"You remember Tessa, right?" Magnus asked, handing Alec a drink.

That was not what Alec had expected. He couldn’t imagine how their conversation about Jace had made Magnus’ mind turn to Tessa. "Of course, first Warlock to ever officially marry a Shadowhunter," Alec nodded, taking a sip from his drink. He still didn't manage to drink without grimacing, but he was getting used to the taste.

"Only Warlock that I know that is not sterile," Magnus said, staring at his drink intensely.

Alec’s eyes widened. "What are you trying to tell me, Magnus?"

"Tessa was married to Will Herondale," Magnus said, raising his eyes to look at Alec. "She is Jace’s great-great-great-grandmother."

Alec stared at him for a few seconds. That information had so many layers that he knew he would end up with a headache if he dug too much into it. It meant Jace was part Warlock in some level. That all Herondales had been for generations. The most famous and prolific family of Shadowhunters had a Warlock in their lineage and apparently no one knew about it.

"Maybe we wait a while until we tell him that he has a great-great-great-grandmother that looks barely older than us and is a Warlock?" Alec grimaced. There were already too many confusing things going on with Jace, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to put even more in his mind for now.

"My thoughts exactly," Magnus snorted, taking another sip of his drink.

"Have you told Tessa?" Alec asked, resting his head on Magnus’ shoulder.

"No, not yet." Magnus shook his head, and kissed Alec’s forehead tenderly. They were comfortable and Alec had really missed those moments of intimacy with his husband.

"Is this what you were thinking about when I asked you who Jace reminded you of?" Alec murmured, looking down at his drink before taking another sip.

"No, not really," Magnus sighed deeply. "I met Stephen Herondale very briefly back when I first met your parents."

"Oh," Alec frowned, the story about how Magnus had first met his parents was sounding more and more relevant. He wondered if this was the right time to ask about it, but he figured it probably wouldn’t be a good idea, it would take his attention away from what was important, so he let it go for now.

"How do you think Jace ended up with Michael Wayland then?" He asked after they had been cuddling on the couch for a while.

Magnus shrugged. "Maybe Michael took Jace when Celine died and told everyone Jace was his son?"

"That’s what mom thinks," Alec said, biting the inside of his mouth. "I don’t think it makes much sense. I mean, why? Why lie and say Jace was his son?"

"Maybe he thought Imogen would take Jace away from him if she knew?" Magnus took another sip. "But he is dead now, so I don’t think we’ll ever know his reasons for sure."

"Imogen thinks Michael stole Jace to replace his own baby. She is not straight up saying it but I have the feeling she thinks Michael killed Celine for her baby," Alec huffed. "My dad was Michael's _ parabatai, _and he says he knows Michael would never do something like that."

"And you believe your dad is right," Magnus stated.

Alec nodded solemnly. "His bond with Michael broke when they grew apart, but the bond is so deep, Magnus," Alec sighed, placing a hand on his own Parabatai Rune. "We know the best and the worst of each other, things that don’t change in just a couple of months."

They may never know how Jace ended up with Michael Wayland, but Alec couldn’t stop himself from thinking that he would never even had met his _ parabatai _ if Jace had been raised as a Herondale. It was weird to think about how something so convoluted resulted in him and Jace meeting and becoming brothers.

"You are kind of his cousin, you know," Magnus said, after a few minutes of companionable silence. 

"Tell me," Alec said, kissing Magnus lightly on the cheek.

"You share a great-great-great-great-grandfather," Magnus snorted, looking a little sad.

"Can that even be considered related?" Alec chuckled.

"Maybe not," Magnus cocked his head and shrugged. "But I knew all these people back then. Tessa who married Will, and Will’s sister who married Gabriel Lightwood, and now here you are."

"Is it weird?"

"Sometimes," Magnus sighed, then shook his head. "Enough of that," he said, moving away and dislodging Alec from his shoulder. Alec huffed indignantly, making Magnus laugh. "What would you like for dinner? There is this little place in Brighton Beach that has the best Moussaka I ever had this side of the ocean."

Alec grimaced. He didn’t know what Moussaka was, but after the day he had, he was not really in the mood to try something new. "Maybe another time? I could really eat a bacon cheeseburger right now."

"Bacon cheeseburger it is then," Magnus raised his hands to summon the food, but paused and looked at Alec expectantly. "Any preferences?"

"I chose the food, you choose the restaurant," he smiled fondly.

Someday soon he should probably talk to Magnus about cooking at home, he was not sure he would be able to stay in shape if they kept eating like that. But that day was not today, he decided when the smell of the burgers reached his nose. He ate healthy at the Institute anyway, maybe he could just increase his training hours, he considered after taking the first bite.

Jace hadn’t showed up by the time Alec and Magnus went to bed, and Magnus was more than happy to take advantage of their empty loft.

* * *

Jace didn’t come back to the loft after that day. In fact, Alec was pretty sure Jace had been avoiding him ever since. At first it wasn’t too noticeable, everytime Alec went looking for Jace, he was either out with Izzy or busy training. He was back on patrol schedule, so Alec didn’t think anything of it. After a week however, Alec was sure there was something extremely wrong.

The whole week Alec kept getting feelings of anger and sadness from Jace, and although it was normal considering everything he had been going through, Alec felt like there was something else buried under those feelings.

Their bond was getting strained, and as much as Alec tried to keep things good on his end of it, Jace’s side was weighting the bond too much, there was no balance. Before their talk with their parents the bond had been healthy and strong, with Alec supporting Jace and sharing the burden, now Jace seemed to be trying to shoulder everything on his own and it was driving Alec crazy.

When Jace didn’t show up for their scheduled patrol together, Alec decided he couldn’t take it anymore, for the first time since he became Head of the Institute, he officially summoned Jace to his office.

"What’s going on?" Alec asked as soon as Jace got there. Instead of sitting on his usual chair, Jace stood in front of Alec in soldier stance.

"Nothing is going on, why did you ask me here?" Jace replied coldly.

Alec sighed, he could feel a lot of resistance coming from the bond, and he knew Jace well enough to know that pushing him wouldn’t do any good right now.

"Imogen wants to meet you," Alec said evenly, doing his best to keep his own hurt at Jace’s attitude at bay.

Jace just shrugged in disinterest.

"She wants to come over during the weekend and talk to you, I told her she could come if you agreed to it," Alec stated, watching Jace carefully.

"Whatever," Jace said with a dismissive hand wave. "Am I dismissed?" He asked tightly.

"Sure."

Jace walked away without looking back at Alec, their bond was tense, and for the first time since they became_ parabatai, _Alec was afraid of what was going to happen.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Warning: This chapter is the reason behind the "Canon-Typical Violence" tag.

Jace kept avoiding Alec in the days that followed. At first, Alec believed it was just with him, but after talking to Izzy and their parents, he found out Jace had been pulling away from the whole family.

Maryse told him Jace wasn’t even spending time with Max anymore, and Izzy told Alec that Jace had been missing their patrols together, and never wanted to train with her. Alec sighed deeply, it was exactly the same as he had been doing with Alec. He didn’t know how to fix it.

Inquisitor Herondale showed up on the weekend as they had agreed. Alec talked to her for a while, she mostly wanted to know more about Jace and how to approach him, Alec was honest and told her how much Jace had been pulling away lately.

When Imogen was ready, Alec summoned Jace to the office. In the couple of minutes Alec stayed there with them, Jace was cold and unapproachable, just like he had been the whole week, and as soon as Alec left to give them some space to get to know each other, he felt Jace lashing out.

Alec threw himself on the couch as soon as he got home, he was stressed and had a major headache. It wasn’t enough that Jace’s distance was straining the bond, he also had to deal with all the anger Jace was feeling, and all his own anger at the situation. He dropped his head on the backrest and covered his face with an arm.

Magnus was excited, walking back and forth in front of Alec, and talking about plans for Alec’s next day off, he had been thinking about new places he wanted to show Alec, and insisted Alec should be the one to choose this time around. But he was talking so much. Alec’s head was pounding, he just wanted some peace and quiet, and Magnus wouldn’t stop talking.

"There is an amazing spa in Hakone with a gorgeous view that would be ideal," Magnus said animatedly, and Alec hummed, not really interested in a weekend away with everything that had been going on. "It’s been a while since I’ve been there, they have some novelty treatments now, I heard their wine baths are great, I would like to try. Or maybe you’d prefer The Blue Lagoon? The hot springs have some real magical properties, and Iceland is a beautiful country. And if we are lucky we can even see the Northern Lights, though it would be easier to see it in September."

Alec huffed impatiently, his head throbbing, and a bitter taste on his mouth. Things were getting worse, he wasn’t sure if his discomfort was coming straight from Jace, or if it was the strain on the bond, but he didn’t think he would be able to keep himself together any longer.

"Maybe a beach vacation would be more fun?" Magnus considered thoughtfully. "There is an island in the coast of Brazil called Fernando de Noronha that I believe you’d love! It is Winter in Brazil right now, but honestly, it's never actually cold in the northeast coast. What do you think?"

"Whatever, Magnus!" Alec snapped, taking his arm from his face in a brusque gesture. "I don’t fucking care right now! Why are you so— What do you— Why are you insisting on this?”

Magnus froze midstep with his arms in the air, staring at Alec in bafflement. "I just wanted to take you somewhere you could relax," Magnus murmured, dropping his arms, and looking deflated, making Alec feel absolutely guilty.

Alec knew his irritability was coming from a mixture of Jace’s anger and his own sadness at seeing Jace distancing himself from the family. Jace was a part of him, having Jace avoiding him made it feel like something was ripping apart Alec’s insides. But it wasn't Magnus fault, far from it, Magnus was the one trying to take care of Alec in the middle of all this. It wasn't fair to snap at him like that.

"I’m sorry, Magnus, I’m so sorry," Alec sighed deeply, rubbing his face with his hands. "I shouldn’t have snapped at you, none of this is your fault."

"It’s okay, Alec," Magnus said with a dismissive gesture, turning to the drink cart stiffly.

"No, don’t do that!" Alec exclaimed fretfully, standing up and crossing the room to take Magnus’ hand before he caught the scotch bottle. "Don’t say it’s okay when it isn’t. You just called me Alec, you never call me Alec."

"It’s been stressful for me too," Magnus said, looking sideways, avoiding Alec’s eyes. "I don’t like seeing you like this when there is nothing I can do to help you. I just wanted to help you relax and take your mind off everything."

"You do," Alec murmured, taking a step closer to him. "Being with you is the best part of my day," he added, caressing Magnus’ cheek carefully. "It’s just too much right now, and Jace is so angry, and hurt, and confused, and distant. It gets to me." Alec closed his eyes, and raised his free hand to press his temple. "I know it’s not my anger, but it still weighs on me."

Magnus nodded, pulling Alec back to the couch. He sat down and made Alec lie down with his head on Magnus’ lap. Then he started to run his fingers through Alec’s hair softly. Alec relaxed under Magnus’ touch, he saw some wisps of magic coming from Magnus’ hands and going into his temple, numbing his headache and giving him a sleepy feeling.

"How does it feel like?" Magnus murmured after a while.

"Hm?"

"When you feel what Jace is feeling, how do you know they are not your feelings?" Magnus questioned calmly, still working his magic on Alec’s headache.

"It doesn’t feel the same," Alec mumbled, closing his eyes. "It’s like the feelings are there, but they aren’t. Maybe a reflex? Or an echo?" He shrugged. "But with the two of us feeling the same things, it’s like the feelings bounce back and forth getting bigger. It’s useful on a fight when the focus bounces, or the determination. The anger bouncing just makes everything worse."

"He met Imogen today, right?" Magnus asked.

"It was awful," Alec sighed. "She wants to get to know him, and to be close to him, but he doesn’t want anything to do with her, at least not right now. He is in a very confrontational mood. I’m pretty sure he snapped at her as soon as I left them alone."

"It’s still too new for him. Maybe he needs more time to process it?"

"I guess so," Alec groaned. "But I don’t know anymore. He is pulling away from me, and I don’t even know why."

Magnus only hummed, and kept running his fingers through Alec’s hair while he talked.

"After we talked to mom and dad he just got distant, Izzy says he is pushing her away too, mom says he is even avoiding Max. I wish I knew how to help him," Alec murmured tiredly, turning his head to bury his face on Magnus’ shirt, and trying to send to Jace’s side of the bond some of the care and understanding he was getting from Magnus.

* * *

Alec was still stressed a couple of days later, but with Magnus’ help, he at least didn’t have headaches anymore. They decided to wait a little longer to take a weekend off, Alec wouldn’t be able to leave the Institute when Jace was so unstable.

Jace was still avoiding him and the rest of the family, and none of them had any idea on how to deal with it. Alec did his best to send good feelings to Jace through the bond, but he was not sure it was having any effect. He just knew he missed having Jace around.

He was on his office, working through some directives from the Clave, when his phone rang.

"Hi," Alec picked up, already feeling a little calmer just from seeing Magnus’ name on the caller id.

"Hi," Magnus answered. "What time are you coming home today?"

"I’ll be home for dinner, why?" Alec asked curiously, it was not normal for Magnus to call him to check on his schedule.

"A friend of mine is a detective at NYPD, he called," Magnus explained seriously. "He says he has something important to tell me, and that he thinks it would be better if you were here too."

"Oh," Alec frowned, it sounded important, he wondered if he wanted Alec there as Head of the Institute or as Magnus’ husband. "Do you have any idea of what he wants?"

"I’m not sure, but from what he said over the phone, I imagine it’s police related," Magnus told him.

"Okay," Alec said thoughtfully, measuring the paperwork on his table and wondering how long it would take for him to finish it. "Maybe ask him if it’s something urgent? If it is you can tell him to go over right away and text me?"

"Sure, thank you, pup."

"Pup?" Alec snorted, shaking his head slowly. "No."

"Just trying it out," Magnus chuckled, before hanging up.

Magnus texted him a couple of minutes later, apparently it was urgent. Alec picked his bow and quiver, and left the Institute in a hurry, he wanted to be there before Magnus’ friend.

Not much time after Alec got home, there was a knock on the door. Magnus waved his hand to open it, and two men walked in. They both had police badges on their belts and scruffy beards, the one in the front had dark skin and short hair, he strode through the parlour to the living room with purpose, like he had been there many times before, the other one was more hesitant, and Alec got the impression that he remembered him from somewhere.

"Alaric, right?" He asked, extending his hand to the second one. "We met at the Jade Wolf, if I’m not mistaken."

"Yes, that’s right," Alaric said, shaking Alec’s hand.

"And this is Luke," Magnus said, gesturing to the first man. "He is an old friend."

"Nice to meet you," Alec said, shaking Luke’s hand. "I don’t believe we’ve met before," he added in a questioning tone.

"No," Luke said with a tight smile. "I was not around when you came by the Jade Wolf, and unfortunately I couldn’t come to your wedding."

Alec nodded to him politely, and Magnus invited them to sit.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way..." Magnus trailed off, gesturing for Luke to talk.

"Right," Luke sighed deeply. "I few months ago I caught wind of a few disappearance cases that sounded Shadow World related, and after digging deeper I believe we need your help," he said, addressing Magnus.

"You think these disappearances are related to a Warlock," Magnus said evenly, his face completely blank. By now, Alec knew him well enough to know he was hiding his thoughts, and waiting to take any conclusions.

"The case that caught my attention was of a twenty one year old girl, her parents declared her missing over a year ago, and the police had no leads for months, until she just reappeared three months ago, with no memories of where she had been," Luke told them. "At first I didn’t think much of it, until I heard from another detective that this case looked a lot like another one he had worked on around two years ago. Alaric and I went through the files and we found ten other girls, ages twenty one to twenty five, all disappeared for about ten months, all came back without any memories."

Alec tensed up a little, something really bad could be happening to those girls, his first instinct was to gear up and go track them down, but he had to listen to what Luke and Alaric had to say and consider all the possibilities. It was more likely that a Warlock would be involved considering the memories being wiped, but it wasn’t the only option.

"Couldn’t it be a rogue Vampire using Encanto to erase their memories?" Alec questioned.

"If it was a Vampire it would make more sense to turn them into Subjugates," Luke said thoughtfully. "Even if that wasn’t the case, the girls would have lasting effects of the venom after so many months."

Alec nodded his understanding, biting the inside of his mouth worriedly.

"And you got a lead that brought you here, so go on," Magnus said, waving for Luke to keep talking.

"There are two girls missing now," Luke declared tiredly. "We managed to catch a scent, and we tracked one of the girls to a brownstone in Park Slope. There were very powerful wards around the house, we believe the owner is a Warlock."

"We didn’t want to go in and put the girl in danger," Alaric said seriously.

"And our Alpha didn’t want us to go in and put the Alliance in danger," Luke said, exchanging a meaningful look with Magnus.

Magnus nodded, looking pensive. Alec was not sure what to take of it. According to Alliance laws, if it really was a Warlock taking these girls, it would fall under Magnus’ jurisdiction, the Werewolves couldn’t do anything without Magnus’ approval, and neither could Alec and the Institute.

"Are you absolutely sure, Luke?" Magnus inquired, staring at Luke seriously.

"The girl is inside the house, Magnus," Luke said emphatically. "We don’t know what they are doing to them, but these girls are disappearing for months at a time, she could be in all sorts of dangers, or being experimented at, we need to find out what is going on."

"Right," Magnus nodded, he stood up and extended a hand to Luke. "What did you use to track her?"

Luke gave Magnus a hair scrunchie, and Magnus closed his eyes to track.

"There are wards blocking me from getting any closer," he said with his eyes still closed. "But I already know who it is."

"Who is it?" Alec asked curiously.

"Iris Rouse," Magnus said, huffing in annoyance. "She’s a very powerful Warlock, and a sneaky one at that. You were right to come to me."

Alec agreed, this was a Warlock matter, it was the best for everyone to let Magnus deal with it, which made him wonder, why did the Werewolves ask him to be here?

"Is that all?" Alec questioned, observing the two of them attentively.

"Yes," Alaric confirmed, after exchanging a glance with Luke.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I’ll inform you of any developments," Magnus said, playing with his ear cuff, something Alec had noticed he did when he was in deep thought or avoiding something.

"Right, we should get going," Luke said, nodding to Alec and Magnus, before walking to the door with Alaric close behind him.

After they were gone Alec raised an eyebrow to Magnus in question.

"Other than bringing me the information they can’t get involved. As Head of the Institute, neither can you."

Alec frowned at him, he didn’t like the idea of Magnus confronting another powerful Warlock on his own.

"As my husband, however..." Magnus trailed off, looking at Alec suggestively.

"Oh," Alec nodded. It made sense now, it was not a good idea for Magnus to go alone even if officially it was all he could do, but as Magnus’ spouse Alec had the right to accompany his husband on official business, like Magnus had done, going with him to the site of the rift. "How should we do this?"

"You can’t call a team or it would look like Shadowhunter interference," Magnus considered, tapping his lip with his finger lightly. "But maybe Jace?" He asked carefully. "The High Warlock Council understands enough about the Parabatai Bond to not consider it outsiders interference. You would come as my husband and Jace as your _ parabatai_. For all intents and purposes you are both considered a part of the Warlock community now. And even if they have a problem with Jace accompanying us, he is actually part Warlock from birth, we can always use that."

At any other time it would be perfectly easy. But under the circumstances, he was not sure Jace would want to go with them. Alec nodded to Magnus and called Jace. As it had been happening more and more often, he didn’t pick up. Alec sighed and exchanged a look with Magnus.

"Would it be too dangerous for us to go on our own?"

"I don’t think so," Magnus shrugged. "Iris may be powerful, but I am more."

"Of course," Alec said, smiling at his husband fondly.

Even with Magnus’ guarantee that he was more powerful than Rouse, Alec was wary, it didn’t feel right for them to go without backup not knowing what they would find, he wished they had more time to prepare and formulate a plan, but without knowing if the girls were in danger they had no time to lose.

He activated his battle Runes, before Magnus opened a portal for them to a secluded part of a park, and they walked to Rouse’s brownstone, stopping in front of it as Magnus raised his hands to check the wards before going any further.

"She’ll know we are here as soon as we go up the stairs," Magnus told Alec, still analyzing the wards. "I can break some of them, but not all."

"How do you want to do it?" Alec asked, using his Heightened Hearing Rune to try to listen to what was going on inside the house. He heard a muffled scream and widened his eyes. "There is someone crying inside," he said with alarm. "It sounds like someone in pain."

Magnus didn’t even hesitate, he blasted the door with magic, and they ran inside immediately. They had no time to think about a plan now.

They heard a pained high pitched scream as soon as they stepped inside the house, and Alec ran up the stairs without hesitation, following the pained sounds he could hear more clearly now, certain that Magnus was close behind him.

There was another scream, longer and more pained than the last one, making Alec open the doors along the upstairs hallway more frantically, looking for whoever was getting hurt.

"Where is it coming from," he asked, turning around.

But Magnus was not there anymore. Alec was completely alone.

He looked around, and ran back to where he had come from, searching for Magnus. Alec had no idea where they had lost each other. An icy feeling went down his spine, they were inside another Warlock’s home, Iris could have separated them somehow, Magnus could be in danger.

Alec’s breath was shallow, his concern and fear making him not think clearly as he ran up another flight of stairs. He hated being alone in that situation, he hated not knowing where Magnus was, or if he was okay, he hated not having backup.

The screams were more muffled on the third floor, but Alec kept going, frantically looking for Magnus and the person screaming.

When he opened the last door in the hallway, he halted.

Magnus was not there, but a little girl that couldn’t be older than Max was, she had dark skin, curly hair and a fearful look on her wide eyes. Alec froze, extending his hands in front of him in a soothing gesture, trying not to scare the little girl.

"Hey," he said breathlessly, as he heard another scream coming from behind him. "Are you okay?"

The little girl took a step back, getting closer to the wall, her eyes going from his bow to his Runes, clearly frightened.

"It’s okay, I won’t hurt you, I just want to talk," he said calmly, keeping his hands where the girl could see them.

There was another scream, even louder this time around. The girl raised her head in the direction of the scream and sobbed, her eyes filling with tears. Alec approached her carefully and kneeled in front of her, putting his bow down to look less threatening. Beneath the colourful scarf she was wearing, Alec could see gills, she was a Warlock then, an extremely young one.

Alec didn’t know much about young Warlocks and how their powers developed at that age, but from what Magnus had told him of his own childhood, young Warlocks could lash out when they were scared, so he tried to lighten things up a little.

"Cool gills," he said gently, getting a tearful smile as a reward.

Another scream, this time followed by a bang, made the little girl’s breath hitch. She reached for Alec’s arm, looking terrified.

"It’s okay," Alec murmured, trying to sound comforting. "Do you know where the screams are coming from? Do you know who it is?"

The little girl nodded, and tears started to roll down her face, she opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, there was a loud bang behind him.

"Get away from her, Shadowhunter!" A woman’s voice yelled.

Alec made a move to grab his bow and turn, just as something hit him in the back making him gasp, a foreign and uncomfortable feeling spread through his body like water, before he could even complete the turn.

His limbs felt heavier. His whole body felt wrong and sluggish. He tried to raise his arm to take an arrow, but he didn’t have the strength to do it. His lungs were constricting, and he had to concentrate all his will power into breathing, but the air coming through his nose felt viscous.

"Come Madzie, we have to leave now," a red haired, middle age looking woman, probably Iris Rouse, appeared beside him and grabbed the little girl. 

Despair filled Alec’s body as he did his best to move, but couldn’t. He couldn’t stop her. He couldn’t do anything.

"Nana?" Madzie whimpered, looking up at Alec with fearful eyes, and holding on to him.

"It’s okay, Madzie, we will be okay," Iris said, pulling Madzie away, and making her release Alec’s arm. "We need to leave."

Alec’s head was hurting from the lack of oxygen, his lungs desperate for air, he was in pain, so much pain. His whole body felt hard and stiff as if he was submerged in cement. He wanted to scream for Magnus, scream for help, but he barely had strength enough to force the air to reach his lungs. From the corner of his eye he could see Iris making a circular movement with her hand to open a portal. That was it, she was going to escape with the little girl, Alec didn't know if Magnus was okay, he couldn't do anything to stop her, or find Magnus. And he was dying, he was fairly sure he would die soon from the lack of oxygen.

She failed. "What?" She screeched, looking down at her hand in puzzlement.

Alec heard the door behind him banging again, and relief engulfed him as he felt his limbs and lungs getting released from the spell. He fell on all fours gasping for air desperately as he hear Magnus’ voice.

"You have no way out, Iris, release the child."

"You have no right to come inside my house and tell me what to do, Bane!" Iris yelled furiously.

Alec did his best to stand up, but he was still having trouble breathing, his lungs were burning, and his head was pounding. He turned slowly in the direction from where he could hear Magnus, everything inside him clamoring to make sure Magnus was not hurt.

Both Iris and Magnus had balls of magic on their hands and were ready to attack one another. Alec knew the only reason Magnus was hesitating was the little girl, who Iris was firmly holding by her side. Madzie was crying silently, looking from Iris to Magnus fearfully. She looked at Alec with her lips trembling, begging for help with her eyes.

"I have every right," Magnus replied firmly. "I’m the High Warlock and you are under my jurisdiction. Cooperate and we can do this the easy way. Release the girl."

"You are not taking my Madzie!" Iris yelled, looking deranged as she threw a ball of red fire on Magnus.

Alec screamed as the magic hit Magnus, pushing him back through the door, and making him disappear from view.

The despair of seeing his husband get hurt made Alec find enough strength in himself to pick up the bow and notch an arrow, turning his aim at Iris, but just as he released the arrow, she turned, throwing a ball of magic on him too.

Alec was still weak from the spell that had immobilized him, he was not fast enough to get out of the way. 

The magic hit him, and Alec felt himself flying backwards. His body hit the window with too much force. The glass shattered all around him, and the last thing he heard as he flew out of the window was Magnus’ desperate cry: "Alexander!"

_Magnus was okay, at least Magnus was okay,_ was all he had time to think, as he fell through the air.

His body hit the pavement at an awkward angle. He could feel glass shards piercing the left side of his face. Something wet was covering his eyes. Rain, maybe? He felt a coppery smell as the wetness reached his nose. Blood, it was probably blood.

Alec tried standing up, but he couldn’t feel his legs. He tried raising his hand to clean his eyes from the blood, but he couldn’t feel his arms.

He was not in pain. 

Shouldn’t he be in pain? 

He had just flown through a window and fallen three stories. Something inside him screamed that he was supposed to be in pain, but his head was foggy and he was starting to have trouble focusing.

Blackness was creeping from the corners of his consciousness. 

He did his best to stay awake.

He had a reason to stay awake, didn’t he? 

He was sure he was not supposed to sleep. 

Why wasn’t he supposed to sleep?

Alec thought he heard something. Maybe footsteps? But before he could understand what was happening his consciousness gave up.


	17. Chapter 17

Alec was awake. 

At least he thought he was. He was having trouble opening his eyes.

His eyelids were too heavy, and he felt like something was weighing his body down. He tried to turn around and snuggle closer to Magnus so he could go back to sleep, but he couldn’t move his body, it was like he was completely stuck.

There was something wrong with him, something extremely wrong, he couldn’t feel his body.

He heard voices coming from far away, and tried harder to open his eyes, to ask for help, but he couldn’t.

Even in the desperation of finding himself paralyzed, he knew he had to try to calm himself down if he wanted to understand what was going on. So he did his best to clear his mind and listen to what was happening around him.

"Bring more blood, he is losing blood quicker than we can transfuse it," someone ordered, she sounded firm and in control. He thought he knew that voice, but he couldn’t quite remember who it belonged to.

"We don’t have more!" Someone else answered, this person sounded distressed, her voice was more familiar, but he still couldn’t place it.

"Mine, take mine!" A third person cried, he was sure that voice belonged to someone important, he forced himself to remember her, she needed him to remember her, but his mind was refusing to tell him who it was. "We have the same blood type, you can make a direct transfusion right?"

"It can work," the first voice said.

Alec heard things moving around, banging and crying. He really wanted to help the person that was crying, their crying was hurting Alec. He should wake up and help the person that was crying. He tried, but his whole body was so heavy.

The voices faded away, and Alec drifted back into unconsciousness.

* * *

The next time Alec woke up, he knew he was not on his bed with Magnus. Their bed was warmer and softer than the one he was on. And their loft was more silent, there were sounds he recognized coming from far away, the sound of monitors and boots hitting the stone floor. 

It was the Institute.

Alec couldn’t remember why he had slept at the Institute, it made no sense to him. He tried to force his memories from the night before, he remembered looking up at the sky, and Magnus crying his name.

Then he opened his eyes, abruptly remembering everything.

"Magnus," he croaked, his throat was so dry that he barely managed to force his voice out, but he needed to know if Magnus was okay, he needed to make sure Magnus was not hurt.

A warm hand grabbed his. "Shh, Alexander, I’m here, you are okay," Magnus hummed.

Alec turned his head to the sound of his voice, and breathed out in relief. Magnus looked tired, his eyeliner was smudged, his shirt was crumpled, and his hair was down, but he was okay, they were both okay.

Magnus smiled softly as he put a cup of water with a straw in front of Alec, helping him drink without releasing his hand. The water helped relieve some of the burning on his throat, but the rest of his body was still stiff and hurting. He wanted to get out of bed, but as soon as he tried to move, he whimpered in pain, his back and his legs aching viciously.

A sob from his right side came in response to his whimper, making him turn to find Jace.

If Magnus looked tired, Jace looked wrecked. His eyes were red and puffy, his hair was disheveled, and there were tear tracks marking his cheeks. The only thing Alec could feel coming from Jace was guilt, and that made no sense with what Alec remembered.

"What happened?" Alec asked hoarsely.

Jace whined in response, covering his face with his hands. Alec frowned and turned to Magnus, raising his eyebrow in question.

"You flew out of a window," Magnus said evenly, the way Alec recognized he usually sounded when he was trying to keep the emotions out of his voice. "You had a dislocated vertebrae, but I got to you quickly enough to stabilize your spine and heal the worst of the damage."

"What about Madzie, and the girl that was screaming?" Alec asked worriedly. Everything would be even worse if, because of him, the people they were trying to help had ended up hurt.

"They are okay, don’t worry," Magnus reassured him without hesitation, putting his other hand on Alec’s cheek softly, making Alec feel calmer almost immediately.

"What happened?" Alec asked again. "Other than me flying through a window, that is."

Jace whimpered again, and a fresh wave of guilt hit Alec through the bond.

Oh.

It made sense. Jace had been distant before, and now Alec was hurt. If their roles were reversed Alec would feel guilty too. He wanted to talk to Jace and reassure him that they were alright, but he knew it was something they had to do alone, and he was not ready for Magnus to leave him yet.

Magnus squeezed his hand, before answering as if Jace hadn’t emitted a sound. "I lashed out on Iris when I saw you flying through the window," Magnus swallowed dry. "Your arrow distracted her and made her let go of Madzie, I was afraid to hit her before, if I wasn’t— If I had been quicker you—"

"No," Alec said firmly. "It’s not your fault, you could’ve hit Madzie if you hadn’t waited until Iris was distracted with me."

"Alexander—"

"Tell me what happened next," Alec interrupted, he knew Magnus well enough to know that he would try to apologize, and he didn’t need an apologie when Magnus hadn’t done anything wrong.

"I tied Iris up and ran to you," Magnus said, looking pained. "You were so— you’d be—"

"Magnus," Alec stared at Magnus earnestly. "I’m okay."

"Not completely," Magnus murmured. "The lesion to your spinal cord was too severe for me to heal on my own, I’m not used to this type of injury, I had to call Catarina, she met me there, and did the more delicate work on your spine. But you are still hurt, we can’t heal it completely, it needs time."

Alec sighed, he knew what the injury needing time meant, he would have to stay away from work and training for a while, but that was better than the alternative. Spinal cord injuries could leave people paralyzed for live, it wasn’t something an Iratze could heal.

"What happened to Madzie?" Alec asked, trying to take Magnus’ focus from his injuries.

"She’s okay," Magnus guaranteed, running his fingers through Alec’s hair carefully. "She’s with Catarina for now, we are not sure if she has anyone other than Rouse. We also found the missing Mundanes..." Magnus trailed off, biting his lip.

"What was Rouse doing to them?"

"Breeding Warlocks," Magnus said seriously, making Alec’s eyes widen in horror. 

Alec couldn’t believe someone would do something so vile to other people. Those girls were being violated, their bodies used and abused, forced to have babies. It was horrifying. It made Alec feel sick.

"The girls we were looking for were already pregnant. We’ll have to keep an eye on them, see how they will react to the babies." Magnus sighed deeply. "There was another one, the one that was screaming, she was in labor, she didn’t even want to look at the baby," Magnus hesitated for a second, closing his eyes, and looking tired. "We have to find someone to adopt him now, apparently Rouse had someone to take him, but..." He trailed off, shaking his head grimly. "We’ll have to investigate it and figure out how much the people she was giving the babies to knew and how much they helped her with all of this."

"What will happen to Rouse?" Alec asked with disgust.

"Probably spend the next few centuries incarcerated under the Spiral Labyrinth, I have to go over for her trial tomorrow morning."

"Can I go home?" Alec murmured, looking sideways at Jace.

"No," Magnus said regretfully. "Catarina says that with this type of spinal injury the best thing to do is move as little as possible. She healed everything she could, but it has to settle."

Alec nodded. He didn’t like the idea of being stuck in bed without doing anything, but he liked the idea of not going back home with Magnus even less. Magnus caressed his face carefully with a fond look in his eyes, then left the infirmary to inform Alec’s parents and Izzy that he was awake.

He knew Magnus was only leaving to give him some time alone with Jace, and he was grateful for that. He turned his head to his other side, and Jace looked at him with sorrowful eyes.

"I’m so sorry," Jace sobbed. "I was so afraid when I felt you getting hurt and I didn't know where you were, and then you were unconscious, and I didn't know if there was someone there to take care of you," he murmured tearfully. "I'm so sorry I didn't pick up the phone."

"It's okay, Jace," Alec murmured, raising his hand with difficult to place it on Jace’s arm.

"No. I've been so stupid," Jace said harshly. "When Robert asked what happened to the real Jonathan Wayland it dawned on me that I’m not his _ parabatai’s _ son, so I’m not supposed to be your _ parabatai_. And—"

"Don’t say that!" Alec interrupted forcefully, feeling both Jace’s hurt and his own. "Never say that! It doesn’t matter, do you hear me?" He grabbed Jace’s shoulder, as best as he could with his whole body still aching, and shook him.

"Stop," Jace protested, holding Alec’s arm carefully. "You’ll hurt yourself!"

Alec ignored him, he didn’t care anymore, he didn’t care if he was hurt, he didn’t care he would have to stay at the Institute in bed rest for a while, all he cared about was making Jace understand. "It doesn’t matter who your father was or what your last name is supposed to be. You are Jace. You are _ my parabatai _, my brother. Never say this was not supposed to be." Alec could feel tears filling up his eyes, but he didn’t care about that either.

"You mean that," Jace said unquestioningly, wiping tears from his own eyes. "You really mean that."

"Of course I mean that," Alec stated firmly, pulling Jace into a hug. "We didn’t become _ parabatai _ because Michael and Robert were. We became _ parabatai _ because we felt it, _ we _ had a connection. _ Me and you _. Not Wayland and Lightwood. Jace and Alec."

"Jace and Alec," Jace nodded, dropping his head to Alec’s shoulder and sobbing.

They were both weeping in each other’s arms, when Magnus got back with Robert, Maryse and Izzy. They had the courtesy of pretending nothing was out of the ordinary as Jace stood from his chair and turned his back to wipe the tears away.

Izzy’s eyes were puff too, and even Maryse seemed shaken. Robert approached Alec’s bed and petted his hair for a moment before stepping away, looking stiff and concerned. They gave Alec the impression that he had been worse when he got to the Institute than he thought.

Jace stayed in the infirmary with him and Magnus until Alec started to yawn. Their bond was feeling more healthy than it had been since their conversation with Robert and Maryse, and although Jace was still hurt and angry over his parentage, the only feelings Alec was getting from him were relief, acceptance and love.

Magnus spent the night at the infirmary with him, even though Alec had insisted for him to go home and rest properly. Magnus said he wouldn’t leave Alec for as long as he could, so Alec accepted it, and watched contently as Magnus magically widened the infirmary bed to lay with him. He couldn’t embrace Magnus the way he usually did, but they found a comfortable position close to each other and managed to sleep.

Magnus left to the Spiral Labyrinth early the next morning, leaving Jace in the infirmary to babysit Alec.

"Hubby thinks you are unable to stay put while he is away," Jace grinned, sitting on the chair beside Alec, putting his feet up on the bed.

Alec glared at him. "I’m not a child, I know I can’t get out of bed."

"Then I’ll just keep you company." Jace shrugged, swinging on the back legs of his chair.

A lot of people came by the infirmary to see Alec during the morning, but by noon Alec was already bored out of his mind. Underhill was about to leave after wishing him a quick recovery, when Alec stopped him.

"Andrew, bring me my tablet and the mission reports from the past two days, please," he ordered.

Underhill hesitated, looking at Jace for help.

"You are supposed to be on bed rest," Jace said firmly, shaking his head. "Magnus told me not to allow you to overextend yourself."

"He told me not to leave the bed, I'm not leaving the bed," Alec grunted to Jace, before turning back to Underhill. "Bring me the reports."

"Alec, I really don’t think that’s a good idea," Underhill said carefully, making Jace nod in agreement. "You are supposed to rest."

"I may be on this bed, but I’m still the Head of this Institute and you’ll do as I say," Alec said seriously. "My body might be hurt but my mind is working perfectly fine."

Underhill nodded and left the infirmary without saying anything else.

"You may fool him with this whole I’m your boss speech, but it won’t work on me," Jace snorted.

"If I can’t do my job, than as my _ parabatai_, it’s your job to do it," Alec said evenly. "You are officially my second in command after all."

Jace grimaced. If there was something he hated it was paperwork. "Well, you are a little better now, and as you said, your mind is perfectly fine."

Alec rolled his eyes, and as soon as Underhill got back with his tablet and the reports he got to work.

There was something comfortable and familiar on doing paperwork, it was almost like this was a regular day at work and he was not bedridden, even Jace sitting with him and scrolling through his phone while Alec worked was part of his routine enough to be soothing.

Alec worked through the afternoon until Magnus got back to the Institute. He had obviously been home. He had changed clothes and had a duffel bag with some of Alec’s things with him.

"I leave you for a couple of hours and you forget that you are on bed rest and start working?" Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow to Alec’s paperwork and tablet.

"He bullied Underhill into bringing him all of this," Jace said without looking away from his phone.

"And why didn’t _ you _ stop this?" Magnus questioned, raising an eyebrow to Jace.

"He bullied me too." Jace shrugged.

Magnus shook his head to him in disappointment as Jace stood from his chair and left the infirmary. Then Magnus sat on the bed beside Alec.

"Stop being stubborn and rest properly, I need you to get better so you can come back home," Magnus murmured close to his ear, taking away his tablet. "I can’t sleep without your adorable little snores." 

"Hey, I don’t snore," Alec protested, pushing Magnus away lightly and pouting.

Magnus closed his eyes, and pretended to snore softly, making Alec chuckle.

* * *

Alec stayed at the Institute for a week.

Catarina showed up every day to check on his injuries, and brought Madzie to see him a couple of times. Apparently the little girl had been worried about him. Alec reassured her that everything was alright, before Max showed up and invited her to play with him. She was a little shy, but Max talked more than enough for the two of them, and she seemed to be having fun.

Catarina told him they couldn’t find anyone related to Madzie, and according to Iris’ records, Madzie’s mother had died in labor.

After they left, Magnus told him that Catarina was thinking about adopting Madzie, and Alec couldn’t be more happy about it, he felt like the little girl deserved someone like Catarina to love and care for her after spending all her life under Iris’ influence.

Most of his injuries were completely healed when he was finally allowed to go back home. His back was still stiff from all the magic Magnus and Catarina had used on him, and he now had a scar on his left eyebrow that Magnus couldn’t take away because it was a magic caused wound. But Magnus said it made him look sexy, so he didn’t mind too much.

Alec’s twenty first birthday was a few days later. He didn’t want a party, he never did, but he agreed to go on holiday with Magnus for the weekend, they sure needed to relax a little after the month they had.

Magnus woke him up on his birthday with breakfast in bed and a huge present, grinning widely.

Alec smiled at him fondly, unwrapping the present carefully. He gawped when he saw what was inside.

It was a black leather quiver with a padded shoulder strap, and the words ‘Trust in Fate’ written in gold on the inner part of the hem. Alec was speechless. It was beautiful.

"I spelled it to replicate your arrows so you never run out," Magnus told him quietly as Alec ran his fingers through the leather. "Obviously the arrows that the quiver will conjure for you won’t be runed, but they would be useful in an emergency," Magnus said, biting his lips anxiously.

It was the perfect present, a way for him to always be able to protect the ones he loved.

"That— It’s incredible," Alec murmured, raising his head to look at Magnus. He had a constricting feeling on his chest, there was a word fighting to come out of his mouth, a word that could express everything he was feeling. A word that had been fighting to come out for a while now, but Alec was not sure he was ready to say it. "I— I love it, Magnus. It’s perfect."

Magnus grinned and rushed him out of bed for them to go on their holiday. He wrapped Alec on a heavy overcoat, then opened a portal, and they walked through it holding hands.

Iceland was incredible. They spent the day in a hot spring spa, and according to Magnus the water had comproved magical healing properties, and was great for healing potions. It would help get rid of the remaining stiffness on Alec’s back and relax his muscles.

Magnus booked couples massages for them, along with manicures, pedicures, and all kinds of spa treatments. Alec had never been pampered like that before, and he was not ashamed to admit he enjoyed it.

By the end of the day, he felt much better than he had in weeks, the water of the Blue Lagoon had taken away all the tension he had been building up since finding out Jace was not Michael’s son.

After it got dark, Magnus took him through a portal to a secluded location, and they watched the northern lights together. It was magical. Everything about that place was magical. But when Alec looked at Magnus, with the lights reflected on his eyes, Alec was sure that none of that was more magical or more stunning than Magnus.

They spent the night at a hotel, Alec would have prefered to go back home and sleep on their own bed, but Magnus insisted that going home was not part of a weekend away.

Alec couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have Magnus as his husband. It was still hard for him to believe this gorgeous, incredible, powerful, kind man had decided to marry him. They were cuddling in bed, his head on Magnus’ shoulder while Magnus ran his fingers through his hair, enjoying their post-orgasmic bliss. It was a perfect birthday, one he would never forget.

"I still can’t believe you just decided to get an arranged marriage," Alec murmured, without thinking much of it.

"I honestly never thought this would happen," Magnus said lightly. "You know there is some history between me and your parents, I never thought they would chose me to marry their son."

"But you offered anyway," Alec hummed sleepily. "Why?"

"Honestly?" Magnus asked, and Alec nodded. "All the reasons I told you when we met are true, but volunteering was more than enough to prove to the other Warlocks that I was dedicated to them and to the job. I was comfortable in the notion that your parents would never choose me, so in my mind there would be no downside to volunteering. And I really wanted to see your mother’s face when she saw that I was the only Warlock willing to marry her son." Magnus chuckled. "Of course I didn’t know that her son was terribly gorgeous, selfless, kind, and quite possibly the best Nephilim to ever walk the earth."

Alec blushed, turning around to hide his face on Magnus’ neck.

"You just wanted to annoy my mother then?" He murmured.

"I’ve known Shadowhunters my whole life, I know how homophobic they are, maybe I was trying to make a point."

"The point being?"

"That they weren’t as open minded as they had been claiming to be for the past sixteen years. Of course your mother had to throw it all away and choose me to marry her son," Magnus said, kissing his head softly. "I’m still a bit shocked, to be honest."

Alec shook his head, smiling fondly.

"My mother is not as bad as people think."

"I know that now," Magnus snorted. "And to think she chose me even though I called you a repellent brat."

"When was that?" Alec frowned. He was pretty sure Maryse would have mentioned if it had happened during the marriage negotiations.

"About eighteen years ago?" 

"When you first met them," Alec stated, and Magnus nodded.

He still didn’t know the exact circumstances of that first meeting, but from what he could gather from Magnus and his parents, it was something extremely bad. He was not sure if knowing would do him any good. His parents regretted their time in the Circle, they were not the same people anymore, whatever it was they did was in the past, there was no point in resurfacing it. But he couldn’t stop himself from being morbidly curious.

"Will you ever tell me?" Alec asked, moving away from Magnus shoulder to look at him properly.

"Do you really want to know?" Magnus questioned, turning to lie on his side and face Alec.

"It’s bad, isn’t it?" Alec asked, biting the inside of his mouth, and Magnus nodded seriously. "I want to know," Alec said with determination.

"Eighteen years ago the Clave still refused to recognize that Valentine and the Circle were dangerous, and that they were killing Downworlders without reason, but we were all aware of it," Magnus sighed. "I was already living in New York back then, I helped to create some safe-houses around the city for the Downworlders to hide if the Circle came. They came," Magnus hesitated for a second, before continuing. "They followed a Werewolf family to the safe-house, and they were accusing their pack of having killed Valentine’s father. That’s when I met your parents, as well as Michael Wayland, Stephen Herondale and Valentine."

Magnus stopped and looked at him questioningly, that was probably where the story would take a turn, and he wanted to be sure Alec still wanted to know. Alec took a deep breath and gestured for him to go on.

"I had warned the Whitelaws, the family that used to run the New York Institute before your parents. When I first talked to the Head of the Institute, she didn’t believe me, but I still sent word to them, and asked for help when I heard that the Circle had the Werewolf family." 

Alec nodded again, he knew about the Whitelaws. The official records said they were killed by Werewolves, Alec had a sickly feeling to his stomach, he was not sure anymore that the official records were accurate.

"They got to the safe-house, and at first the Circle thought they were there to support them, but to their surprise, and my own, they protected the Werewolves. Valentine was not in the room with us at the moment, but a fight happened and—" Magnus took a deep breath, his eyes were glassy, and lost in the memory. "Rachel had your mother down when your father jumped her and— He killed Rachel," Magnus said, trying to keep his voice absolutely even.

Alec took a sharp breath. It was worse than he feared. Their parents had killed someone, a Shadowhunter at that. When he learned they had been in the Circle he figured they would have killed and hurt people, but he had never thought they would have killed one of their own.

Then Alec felt shame. He was ashamed that the first thing he thought was that taking a Shadowhunter’s life was worse than taking a Downworlder’s. It was horrible, of course it was. But it was just as horrible as he had always thought it was, it was just as bad as he had imagined, because a life was not more valuable than another, being it of a Shadowhunter, a Mundane, or a Downworlder.

"Are you okay?" Magnus asked carefully, looking into Alec’s eyes.

"It’s bad, it’s really bad, but I already knew they had killed people for the Circle back then, it’s no different from them killing the Werewolves that they were there to kill," Alec stated firmly.

Magnus’ eyes filled with tears. "You really mean that? You really think a Shadowhunter’s life isn’t more valuable than a Downworlder’s?"

"I do," Alec nodded with conviction. Even if it had taken him a second to recognize that, he believed it now. "Did the Werewolves survive?"

"Yes, the Whitelaws died to save the Werewolves from the Circle," Magnus said with a sad smile. "They really believed in the law and the Accords. They were a huge part of the reason I decided to take part on the negotiations for the Alliance, if the Whitelaws gave their lives to protect Downworlders, than I had to believe there were other good Shadowhunters out there."

"And my parents?"

"They were terrified of what had happened," Magnus said with conviction. "Your mother more than your father. They were like lost children looking to Valentine for answers and directions."

Alec tried to imagine his mother in a position where she would look at someone else for directions. It was so unlike her that he had trouble even making sense of it.

"Do you believe they regret all of it?" He asked quietly.

"I believe they changed and that they regret some of it, I’m not sure how much though, I’m still waiting to see."

Alec nodded, embracing Magnus and pulling him closer, comforting himself on the warmth of Magnus’ body.

When he got back to the Institute on Monday he didn’t confront his father, he didn’t tell his mother he knew it, he didn’t talk about it with Jace or Izzy, he just kept going on with his life and his work, knowing it didn’t change what had happened and didn’t change who they were now. It just gave Alec perspective.

* * *

Things settled down a lot after that. As much as things can settle down in a Shadowhunter’s life, that is.

Catarina declared him fit for field work a week after his birthday, and a few days later he had the opportunity to really put his new quiver to work, Jace, Izzy and Alec had a run in with an infestation of Drevak demons on patrol, and no matter how many arrows he shoot, his quiver never emptied out.

"What do I have to do to get a bust to my weapons?" Izzy asked playfully as they walked back to the Institute.

"Marry a powerful Warlock?" Alec said cheekly.

"Well, we are not all as lucky as you," Izzy chuckled. "Maybe you could nudge my amazingly powerful brother-in-law into making something for me too?"

"You can nudge him all you want over family dinner on Sunday," Alec said, stopping to look at both Izzy and Jace significatively.

"Family dinner as in all of us and mom and dad?" Izzy asked with raised eyebrows.

"And Magnus’ family too, Catarina and Madzie, Ragnor, and Raphael," Alec nodded.

"That will be— Interesting?" Jace said hesitantly. "Are the two of you ready for that?"

"We are," Alec said, smiling confidently.

They really were. Their relationship had felt real since the beginning, or rather, since they talked about it, but now it was more. Alec wouldn’t be able to explain if someone asked, but he felt that Magnus was his family, that the loft was their home, that they would’ve found each other and ended up married even without the Alliance.

Family dinner was not as bad as everyone had feared. The awkwardness only lasted for a few minutes, or until after the first drink, according to Magnus, then people seemed to relax and enjoy each others companies.

Alec was the only one who knew Maryse and Robert were having marriage problems, as such he was probably the only one who noticed the tension between them. Max was completely enraptured by Madzie and loved playing with the spelled games Catarina had brought with them. Izzy, Raphael and Ragnor developed a weird kind of friendship that from what Alec could gather consisted of bitching about the rest of them, they seemed to be having fun, so he didn’t mind.

Catarina and Alec were sitting together, watching the kids play. They had become close during the time Catarina spent helping Alec with his recovery, he liked the orderly and focused way she did things, so different from the chaos that reigned in Magnus’ workroom.

He laughed at a story Catarina was telling him about her job at the hospital, and raised his head, looking for his husband. Magnus was on the balcony with Jace, they seemed to be deep in conversation and the only thing Alec got from his bond with Jace was a calm and comfortable feeling. It made Alec happy to see them getting along, it was like everything was in the right place.

"The best part of being a Warlock," Magnus said, once everyone had left, moving his hands around, weaving his magic. "It’s extremely easy to clean after a dinner party." He smirked as the plates flew to the kitchen and washed themselves, and the loft got back to its usual estate of cleaness. "I don’t think I would enjoy having people over as much if I actually had to do the cleaning."

Alec chuckled fondly before pulling him into a kiss, and guiding him to the bedroom.

"This dinner wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared," Magnus said, snuggling into Alec’s arms some time later.

"Were you really afraid it was going to be a disaster?" Alec asked, running his fingers through Magnus’ hair.

"No," Magnus chuckled. "But you Shadowhunters have a tendency to defy my expectations."

Alec snorted, pulling Magnus closer. "What are you afraid of?" He asked after a while, burying his nose on the homey scent of Magnus’ hair.

"Acid washed jeans," Magnus said evenly, and then chuckled.

"Oh, come on, Magnus," Alec said, nudging Magnus with his nose and making him giggle. Alec sighed and pushed away to look at Magnus’ face. "I’m serious. You’re an all-powerful Warlock. You can summon demons. You lived through centuries of war. And you are immortal." Alec breathed out slowly. "What scares you?"

"The key to having no fear, is having nothing to lose," Magnus said, frowning a little, seeming deep in though. He turned, looking at the ceiling while he talked. "I guess that’s why I haven’t opened my heart up for almost a hundred years. Then I met you."

Alec smiled softly, watching as Magnus turned for Alec to cuddle him.

He had never even thought about it before, not really. When he learned he was going to marry Magnus, it didn’t matter. They didn’t know each other and the fact that some day Alec would grow old and die but Magnus wouldn’t was not daunting, it was just natural. 

Now he saw it differently.

Alec couldn’t imagine himself without Magnus, he was not sure he could live without Magnus anymore, and he was the lucky one, chances were he would never have to live without his husband. But what about Magnus? 

Magnus had opened his heart for Alec, but someday he would lose Alec. He was immortal, and as proven recently, Alec was extremely breakable. 

One day Alec would die and leave Magnus all alone again. He could tell himself that it wouldn’t matter, that Magnus would be okay, that he was used to seeing mortals dying while he lived, but Alec knew Magnus, he cared, about everyone.

He pulled Magnus closer, hugging him tightly. He didn’t know what to do, or even if there was something he could do, but while he was there he would give Magnus everything he had.

* * *

Magnus was so beautiful in the mornings.

Alec relished those moments when Magnus was still asleep or had just woken up. His face clean of makeup and relaxed, his hair loose, falling on his forehead, usually pouting a little, while asleep, Magnus looked unguarded and innocent. And Alec thought it was a privilege to be allowed to see him like this.

Magnus scrunched his nose and stirred a little, turning his body in Alec’s direction. His hand found Alec’s chest and he snuggled closer. And Alec couldn’t stop himself from smiling fondly.

"It’s too early, go back to sleep," Magnus groaned, burying his face on Alec’s chest.

Magnus’ hair tickled his nose when he moved, and Alec chuckled quietly.

"Stop this," Magnus mumbled. "Close your eyes. I don’t want you to leave the bed yet."

Alec obeyed. He pulled Magnus a little closer, buried his head on his pillow and closed his eyes. He could stay for a couple more minutes. Their bed was so comfortable and Alec always loved it when Magnus made it clear that he wanted Alec to stay there, close to him.

And Alec loved the times when he had to wake up too early, and when he got out of the bathroom, ready to leave for the Institute, he would always find Magnus hugging Alec’s pillow. And how Magnus always waited up, even when Alec texted ahead to tell him he would be late, just because he liked to rest his back on Alec’s chest to sleep. Alec loved sleeping with Magnus. Alec loved—

"I love you," Alec murmured, without thinking.

Magnus’ breath hitched, and Alec froze.

"I— I don’t— I didn’t—" Alec stammered, trying to disentangle himself from Magnus, but Magnus’ strong arms held him in place.

"I love you too," Magnus said firmly, before Alec could try to leave the bed. "I really do." He raised his head a little, so that he could look into Alec’s eyes. 

His glamour was down, allowing Alec to look into those beautiful, golden-green, cat eyes that he loved so much. Magnus’ eyes were shining, and he had a small content smile on his lips. Alec couldn’t resist, he tilted his head and kissed that beautiful smile, then he kissed Magnus’ cheeks, and his nose, and his eyelids, then back to his mouth.

"I don’t even know why I said it now," Alec murmured, with his forehead resting against Magnus’.

"Because you felt it," Magnus whispered. "And it was perfect. No way else would be more real than this."

"I love you," Alec said again, just because he could.

"I love you," Magnus repeated, making Alec feel like the luckiest man in the world.

He kissed Magnus again before getting out of bed to Magnus’ protests. He walked into the closet and opened his underwear drawer, picking up the little velvet box he had put there months ago. Then he got back to bed, and offered it to Magnus.

Magnus frowned a little as he opened the box, then gawped at the ring inside it. "Your family ring?" He asked, looking at the ring intensely.

"Mom gave it to me on the day we met," Alec murmured, observing Magnus attentively. "She told me I should give it to you when I meant it."

"You mean it?" Magnus looked up at him with his bright cat eyes. 

"I've meant it for a while," Alec admitted, staring into the eyes of the man he loved. "But I think this is the right time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it for now!! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to everyone that left me lovely comments and kudos since I started posting, it means a lot to me, and it's a great incentive to keep writing!
> 
> As some of you know, I'm writing a sequel! So here is how it'll go: 
> 
> 1- I have a oneshot from Jace's pov of the "Family Dinner". It's mostly him thinking about family and rethinking things his father (aka Michael aka Valentine - poor boy still doesn't know the truth) taught him.  
2 - Then there is another oneshot, this one from Alec's pov, also about family. Featuring Madzie, Catarina and Raphael.  
3 - Finally there is the sequel, that will start from the day Clary entered their lives at Pandemonium (aka the show's pilot)
> 
> If any of that interests you keep an eye on the series!  
Thank you all again for all the support! Let me know what you think of everything in the comments!


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